


The Trio and the Traitor

by DanniDieHard



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Canon Divergence, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Finnpoe a lot at the start, Fix-it fic, M/M, Reylo slow burn, Sequel Retelling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:01:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 40
Words: 101,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23443624
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanniDieHard/pseuds/DanniDieHard
Summary: So I’ve been hearing a lot of people say about how the trilogy was not planned... and it’s showsSo I went back to the start chose what I liked and changed what I didn’t and now I’m writing the trilogy from the beginning.I’m starting from Poe’s escape because I’m happy with canon up to that point. Finnpoe and Reylo definitely gonna happen. Sorry if the first chapter is too canon I was trying to get into the characters minds and it felt right to start there. I like the idea of the trio even if it wasn’t executed properly.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 58
Kudos: 134





	1. The Pilot and The Stormtrooper

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic, so please go easy on me.
> 
> Thanks to Will and Nicole my two best friends for reading and encouraging me to post this. 
> 
> May the force be with you.

Part 1 – The Force Awakens

Chapter 1 – The Pilot and The Stormtrooper

Poe Dameron was slumped in an interrogation chair of a First Order star destroyer. He was battered, bruised and bloody. Kylo Ren had drained him, taken the information he needed as easy as reading a book. He'd failed the Resistance, his beloved droid BB-8 would be found, destroyed and the First Order would snuff out all the hope in the galaxy. At that moment his cell door opened, another stormtrooper walked in and spoke to the one guarding him.

“Ren wants the prisoner”

Poe felt his restraints being released and then suddenly being forced to stand, his legs shook with the effort of standing. His hands were bound and then the stormtrooper who had come for him linked arms with him and dragged him from the room.

They walked through corridor after corridor and the more he walked the more defiant he became. Ren wanted him...not to question him, he would have just come back to the room. He was going to execute him, make an example of him, to show what happens when you rebel against the First Order. Poe decided there and then he was not going down without a fight, he may not be able to escape but his stormtrooper had relaxed his grip on his blaster, he would grab it and take down as many stormtroopers as he could in a blaze of glory.

He was about to make his move when the trooper spoke to him.

“Turn here” he said quickly as he shoved Poe into a narrow hallway.

“Listen carefully, I can get you out of here, but only if you do exactly what I say” said the trooper, as Poe looked on confused.

“Wha... What?”

The trooper removed his helmet as Poe stared intently at the young man in front of him.

“This is a rescue, I'm helping you escape, can you fly a TIE fighter?”

“Are you with the resistance?” Poe asked even more confused

“What? No, I'm breaking you out, can you fly a TIE fighter?”

“I can fly anything” Poe cut in thinking as he did, _it can't be that much different than an x-wing_. The trooper looked excited at the prospect. However, Poe couldn't help but wonder.

“Why are you helping me?”

The trooper stood up taller and said “Because it's the right thing to do”

Poe looked into the man's nervous brown eyes and just knew at that moment, his true motive.

“You need a pilot,” Poe exclaimed.

The trooper looked relieved as he breathed out “I need a pilot”

At that second Poe felt a surge of joy, the spark would not go out and he would keep fighting, his mind whirled as he began to plan. Find BB-8, rejoin the resistance and defeat the First Order once and for all and with a stormtrooper of all people... not how he thought that day would go.

“We're gonna do this” Poe said excitedly

The trooper looked slightly nervous at the look on Poe's face

“Yeah?” the stormtrooper agreed uncertainly.

He and Poe devised a plan to safely get to the hangar where the TIE fighters were located.  
They walked through the final few corridors to the hangar single file, the trooper's blaster pointed at Poe's side, to keep up the pretence.

They made it to the hanger without incident, they walked through trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

“Okay stay calm, stay calm” the trooper said, his voice once again distorted by the helmet he'd had to put back on.

“I am calm” Poe replied annoyed, talk like that could blow their cover.

“I'm talking to myself” he said, Poe looked back at the trooper bewildered, it had only just occurred to him, how nervous this trooper really was. It was daunting trying to escape from any situation, but to leave something your whole life was devoted to. It takes guts to do that but also causes extreme anxiety. They walked a little further, Poe was eager to reach the ship, maybe too eager

“Not yet” said the trooper, he looked around cautiously “Okay go! This way.” He directed Poe to a row of TIE's to their left. They reached the first TIE up the ladder and the trooper quickly took the bindings off Poe's hands, before they both jumped into the TIE back to back.

Poe looked around enthusiastically, studying the ship intently as he removed his jacket. TIE fighters had always interested him, ever since he was a young boy playing Empire vs Rebels with his friends back home.

“I've always wanted to fly one of these things” he said thinking back to his childhood and the broken ones he used to sit in at the old rebel base. A quick thought popped into his head, if he was gonna fly them out of there they'd need some defense. “Can you shoot?”

“Blasters, I can” the trooper behind him said as he was removing his helmet once again and discarding it on the floor.

“Okay same principle, use the toggle on the left to switch between missiles, cannons and mag pulses, use the site on the right to aim, triggers to fire” Poe replied while setting up the ship to leave, flicking the switches like it was any other ship.

“This is very complicated” the trooper said to himself, just as the ship lurched forward taking off.

They set off but before they’d flew for even a second they were being tugged back by a tether holding the ship to the dock. Poe cursed under his breath as he pushed every button trying to untether them.

“I can fix this,” he said anxiously.

Shots began to hit the fighter rapidly, Poe's compatriot had the good sense to fire back at them, sending troopers flying and exploding the dock and other ships as well as the command deck which had blown up faster than he thought possible. This gave Poe a chance to work his magic and get them out of there.

“I got it” Poe exclaimed, flicking one last switch as they were unhooked and zoomed from the hanger into open space. “Whoa, This thing really moves!”

It took Poe a second to get his bearings, the speed and instability of the vehicle was not surprising but did cause problems for the pilot, as they were literally in a ball with wings. It was no wonder the resistance were able to shoot them down in great numbers. He adjusted quickly and spun around to fly across the underbelly of the Star Destroyer.

“Alright, we got to take out as many of these cannons as we can or we're not gonna get very far.”

“Alright” The trooper agreed.

“I'm gonna get us in position just stay sharp” Poe said as he slipped between the cannon fire and got into position. “Up ahead! Up ahead! You see it, I got us dead center, it's a clean shot.”

“Okay got it” the trooper said under his breath. There was a pause as he took a deep breath and then fired. The cannons exploded, breaking them off the ship entirely.

Poe and his companion cheered as they zoomed through the explosion. The trooper shouted in disbelief “Did you see that! Did you see that?!”

“I saw it,” Poe replied, smiling at the trooper’s excitement. He swept through the hollow front of the destroyer, that's when it dawned on Poe that in the race to escape he hadn't asked the trooper his name.

“Hey, What's your name?”

“FN-2187” he answered, as though he was speaking to a First Order General.

“F... What?”

“That's the only name they ever gave me,” he replied. Anger raged inside Poe, they didn't give him a name they gave him a number. Like he was a clone in their army.

“Well I ain't using it. FN... huh, Finn I'm gonna call you Finn, is that alright?”

“Finn, yeah, I like that, I like that” he said repeating himself.

“I'm Poe, Poe Dameron”

“Good to meet you Poe,” Finn said, enjoying the camaraderie between them.

“Good to meet you too Finn” Poe effusively responded as his mind travelled to his next objective, getting his droid back.

Just then four cannon blasts zoomed towards them and Poe was immediately alert to the oncoming attack. He swerved out the way but they came around to try again.

“Something's coming towards you, my right, your left. You see it?”

“Hold on,” he said, focusing on the open space in front of him as what looked like blue bullets shoot through the open plain at them. “I see them!”

Finn shot again and again until finally he hit one and it exploded.

“Nice shot” said Poe as he dodged the oncoming cannon blasts from the destroyer and then began making a beeline for Jakku.

Finn felt them begin to descend, which confused him. “Where are you going?” he asked his pilot.

“We're going back to Jakku, that's where” Poe said determinately.

Finn became agitated the last thing they needed to do was show the First Order where they were going. What they needed to do was get as far away from that destroyer as possible.

“No n-no! We can't go back to Jakku, we need to get out of the system.”

“I gotta get my droid before the First Order does.” Poe argued.

“What! A droid!” Finn said exasperatedly, all this for a bloody droid.

“That's right. He's a BB Unit, orange and white one of a kind.” Poe explained thinking about his precious droid, right at this moment he was probably roaming the desert thinking Poe was dead or had abandoned him.

“I don't care what colour he is, no droid can be that important”

“This one is pal,” Poe retorted.

“We have to get as far away from the First Order as we can! We go back to Jakku, we die” Finn said dramatically.

“That droid has a map that leads straight to Luke Skywalker”

“Oh you gotta be kidding me!” Finn exclaimed, he was so distracted by his argument with Poe that he hadn't noticed the cannon blast headed straight for them. It exploded the bottom of both their wings and sent them hurtling down to the planet of Jakku.

***

Finn awoke with a start, sweat pouring down his face. He wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious in the Jakku desert but it felt like his head was on fire. Unbuckling himself from his ejector seat he fell into a heap on the sand. He quickly stood up and began to look around, all he could see were sand dunes surrounding him. Turning around though and in the distance, he saw a small plume of smoke.

“The ship... Poe!!” he screamed, running as fast as he could with his bulky armour and the sun bearing down on him.

He reached the ship still screaming out for Poe again and again. Looking inside the ship he couldn't see anyone, but it was hard to tell with all the smoke. He thought back to the crash and was sure Poe ejected himself before Finn, he turned on his heel and searched the dunes to the right on the ship.

Finn was exhausted, overheated and about ready to give up. That's when he saw it, the faintest bit of black material on the next dune over. Poe's parachute. Finn ran straight for it. Poe was still strapped into his ejector seat, still unconscious. Finn reached him and shook him trying to wake him and calling out to him.

“Poe! Poe! Please don't be dead, please don't be dead.”

Slowly Poe's eyes began to open and he remembered the circumstances of how he ended up in his most recent predicament. He spoke in a pained voice “Well, I've had better landings...”

Finn smiled “Poe! You're alright.”

“Yeah I'll survive, it takes more than that to kill me.”

Finn held out his hand to Poe which he then grasped, pulling himself up onto his feet. Poe looked around searchingly.

“Nowhere for miles” Poe thought for a moment “Okay we'll go back to the ship and see how bad it is” He walked with purpose, trudging through the sand leaving Finn to chase after him.

“Poe, there's nothing but a wreck left” he said disheartened.

Poe looked him up and down thinking, “Alright, we'll head back to dispose of that uniform, you look like you're already overheating in it. We don't need you discarding it along the way to the next outpost and they find us because you've been leaving a trail.” Finn nodded.

They made it to the ship and Poe stood before it, “You were right, there's no hope for it. Alright Finn, strip that bucket head uniform off and chuck it over here” Finn stared blankly for a second and then started taking off the white outer shell of his uniform, passing it to Poe until he was left in a plain black top and trousers.

“Much Better” Poe said holding the pile of plastic-like parts. He stepped forward toward the ship and threw the armour inside through the smashed windshield. Then Poe saw something, he reached inside and pulled out his favourite jacket “Well at least this survived the crash” he said showing it to Finn.

Suddenly the ground beneath Poe began to tremble “I have a bad feeling about this” he said as the sand around him tried to swallow him up

Finn grabbed him and pulled him to safety, both falling over in the process. Poe tumbled straight onto Finn's chest, now face to face and a breath away,

“Sorry!” he said sheepishly, rolling off of him. They both lay next to each other watching the ship sink into the sand. “Well, they'll at least have trouble finding where we landed now.”

They stared at each other for a long time and then burst out laughing. “Come on, let's get going we've got a long trek ahead of us” Poe said as they both got up and dusted themselves off. They hadn't made it more than a few steps when they heard an explosion come from behind them.

“Must be the ship” Finn stated “Good riddance”

***

They must have walked for hours and there was still no sign of a settlement or outpost. Finn was really struggling, dehydration was setting in and he was burning up. Poe stared at Finn concerned. “Finn buddy, you can do this. It won't be long now, we'll find an outpost and get a ship and some water and then go find BB-8.” Poe said softly but encouragingly.

“Yeah...Yeah. Don't worry I can make it.” Finn said breathlessly, as Poe’s face lit up with an idea.

“I've got an idea, take this” he said handing Finn his jacket “Use this for some shade”

Finn lifted the jacket above his head shielding himself from the sun. With Finn a little more comfortable and motivated, they picked up speed again.

“How are you okay in this heat?” Finn asked.

“I grew up on Yavin IV, the heat is a little dryer here but it's manageable. What about you, where did you grow up?” Poe said, mopping his brow. He did acknowledge to himself though, that the heat was getting to him more than he let on.

“I... I don't know, like every trooper I was taken from my family, I can't remember anything from before the academy” Finn said glumly.

Poe thought for a moment, he’d heard stories about children being trained for the First Order but he had hoped it was voluntarily and not so young that they couldn’t remember their own families.

“I'm sorry that that happened to you, but you're free now. And when this war is done, if you want, I promise I'll help you find where you came from. Or if you don't, you'll always have a place with me”

“Why would you want to help me?” Finn questioned.

“You saved my life and gave the resistance a chance to win, I owe you debt.” They smiled at each other.

They walked and walked and walked until finally, cresting over a dune they saw it. An outpost with a small marketplace.

“Finally!” Poe exclaimed “Right, I'll go find us a ship and you go get yourself hydrated.” As they both started to scurry down quickly to the market.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone who has read this. xx


	2. The Scavenger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank again to my two best friends, Will and Nicole for reading this and letting me constantly annoy them about this.
> 
> I plan to hopefully update every Thursday

Chapter 2 – The Scavenger

Rey was walking absent-mindedly through the market as she made her way out of Niima Outpost for the day. She was agitated, her rations were being cut out of spite and soon she'd starve. She looked at the droid, her new acquaintance, rolling beside her. She could have sold him and not have to trade with Unkar Plutt for weeks, stock up on what she'd scavenge each day and have some semblance of comfort, at least for a while.

But no, she would never trade him away. The little orange and white ball, so innocent and hopeful. She hated to think what Plutt would have in store for him. She also saw too much of herself in him, waiting for his master to return, just like she waited for her parents. She was taken out of her thoughts as the droid beside her started beeping frantically. She knelt in front of him trying to comprehend what he was trying to say.

“I don't understand? A man... running... water fountain?” she said confused. Before she could ask more, two of Plutt's goons approached her.

“We're taking the droid for Unkar Plutt” one of them said in their gruff language, while the other threw a sack over the droid.

“What? Oi! Get off him!” Rey shouted as she kicked the thug in front of her knocking him over. She was picked up by the being behind her, Rey kicked out wildly and lifted his arm to her mouth and bit down hard. He released her, quickly she grabbed her staff from her back and stood ready, as the idiot who had fallen had scrambled to his feet.

It wouldn't be the first time she'd defended herself, her whole life these kinds of creeps had knocked her down. Eventually she'd learnt how to punch back, the way she learnt to do everything, alone.

She stood in between them waiting for them to strike first. The one on her left raced towards her but she whacked him in the chest, sending him flying. She turned back to face the other one but was met with a punch to the face, she stumbled. Regaining her balance, she threw all her weight onto her staff, pinning it to her assailant as she kicked him in the nether regions. She struck her staff again and again but the thug blocked her attacks this time. Her other opponent rose behind her grabbing each end of her staff, pinning her to his chest. She used this to her advantage using his weight to lift herself into the air and slammed her foot into the other thug and sent him to the ground again. She twisted herself around on her staff and was free from the other thug's grip and smashed him in the face, she hit him on the shoulder and then on the face again knocking him out.

She went over to the droid and removed the sack, “Are you ok?” she asked the droid. He made a few small beeps of assent and then shrieked a beep like he remembered something. Beeping wildly again, he communicated to Rey about a man in a brown jacket who was staring at them. That jacket he was wearing was the droid's masters.

“Him?” Rey said gearing up for another fight. She raced towards the man as he backed away. Anger written across her face as the man made a quick dash into the market. She turned running parallel with him, then ahead of him cutting him off and smashing him in the face, sending him flying to the ground.

“What's your hurry thief?” She said holding her staff in his face as her new droid friend rolled up to where she'd caught him.

“What! Thief?” The droid rolled up to him and electrocuted him. “Ow! Hey! What?” He said confused and in pain.

“The jacket, the droid said you stole it”

The man looked at the jacket as though he hadn't even realised he was wearing it.

“Look I've had a pretty messed up day alright and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop accusing me” the droid shocked him again “Ow! Stop it, my friend gave me this jacket” he yelled.

“Liar, it belongs to his master”

The man looked at the droid, then at Rey, then back to the droid.

“You're Poe's droid?” he asked.

The little droid turned to Rey and made a few small beeps to her.

“How do you know his master?” she said threatening him with her staff again.

“Poe was captured by the First Order, I helped him escape and our ship crashed. We came here to get a ship, so we could find you, that's where Poe is now.”

The droid beeped with glee to know that Poe was alive and had come to find him. Rey felt a twinge of envy, the droid's master had come for him in less than a day but she had waited years for her family but still no sign of them but she still had hope. Someone would come back for one day, she just knew it.

“So you're with the resistance?” Rey asked curiously while lowering her weapon.

The man in front of her scrambled to his feet and began to talk eagerly “Poe is, and I've been helping him” he said proudly while still evading the question

“I've never met a Resistance fighter before” Rey said excitedly.

“Well, you can once we find him” the droid beeped his agreement “Then I can get off this godforsaken planet” he muttered walking past Rey, back into the market.

Rey caught up with him and started talking animatedly “Your friend's droid said he's on a secret mission and has to get back to his base”

“Between you and me, he's got a map that leads to Luke Skywalker and everyone's after it” he said covertly

Rey stared at the man and whispered “ Luke Skywalker? I thought he was a myth”

Just then the droid made some urgent beeps directing their attention to the two thugs from earlier. They were talking to a couple of stormtroopers, they pointed at the pair, the troopers aimed their blasters at them and bolted towards them. Rey felt her hand being grabbed as the man she'd just met dragged her away.

“What are you doing!” she yelled.

“Come on!” he shouted back at her, still not letting go of her hand. The droid rolling after them.

They ran, Rey rather unwillingly but she knew it was the best idea as blaster fire came thick and fast. “Would you let go of me, I know how to run without you holding my hand” She said angrily finally wriggling her hand free from his grasp and then running ahead of him.

“Stay close, this way” she shouted back at the man and droid who were falling behind. They kept running keeping their heads low dodging more blaster fire. Rey took them through a crowd of people sending them flying everywhere but losing troopers in the process.

Rey turned her head, the troopers were now nowhere in sight. They raced to the outskirts of the market and ran inside a covered stall to hide and catch their breaths.

“They're shooting at both of us” she said a little scared of what she'd got into.

“Yeah, they saw you with me. You're marked”

“Well thanks for that!” she said mockingly. She had wanted to help the droid but being a target for the First Order was not her idea of fun.

“Hey! I'm not the one who chased you down with a stick”

Their conversation was abruptly cut short when another man skidded into the tent. Rey raised her weapon but the man raised his hands in surrender.

“You really know how to get their attention, don't you?” he said sarcastically. The droid came screaming towards him.

“Little buddy! You're ok. Finn, how did you find him?” Poe said happily, crouching down to his friend.

“Poe! You found us” Finn said relieved.

“And I found both of them” Rey said to the man who must be Poe.

“You're hard to miss”

“He's gotcha there” Rey agreed, looking straight at Finn.

“BB-8, have you still got it?” The droid beeped excitedly as Poe breathed a sigh of relief.

“So that's your name, is it?” Rey said crouching down as the droid beeped ruefully. All of a sudden they froze, Finn crouched down with them as they heard the unmistakable sound of TIE fighters.

“No time for introductions, we need to go” Finn said grabbing both Rey and Poe's hands and pulling them out of the tent.

“Stop taking my hand” Rey yelled as Poe looked at her, confusion written on his face.

They raced out to the market, just as a TIE fighter came screaming above where they had been hiding blowing it up and sending them flying. Rey fell on her front unharmed but shaken, she could hardly see as smoke filled the air. Above her though she heard the TIE fighters getting louder again, coming around for another attack.

She raised herself up quickly as the smoke began to disperse and saw Finn and Poe lying on the ground next to each other seemingly unconscious. She crawled towards them shaking them both awake.

“Are you okay?” Finn asked sitting up and looking concernedly at Rey.

“I'm fine, just tired of getting knocked down today” Poe groaned unaware the question was  
not meant for him.

“Let's go, I know where we can get a ship!” Rey said holding out both her hands to the men and pulling them to their feet.

They ran through the market once again, as explosions rained around them. Leaving the market area Rey lead the way to Plutt's storage yard with all his stolen vehicles strewn about.

“Where are you taking us?” Poe shouted towards Rey up in front as he trailed behind.

“We can outrun them in that quadjumper” Rey called back pointing straight ahead of her.

“What about that ship, it's closer” Finn screamed noticing the TIE's were closing in on them. Rey and Poe looked to their right and saw an old freighter, half-covered by a tarp.

“That one's garbage!” Both Rey and Poe said at the same time. Rey smirked amused that at least he could tell junk when he saw it.

At that moment TIEs flew above and blasted the quadjumper to smithereens creating a giant plume smoke. The trio skidded to a halt in front of the destroyed ship.

“The garbage will do” Rey said to the men, turning tail to the freighter that was now behind them. They scurried toward the freighter dodging a blast from behind them.

“Hey I can't fly that thing by myself, I'd need a co-pilot!” Poe said knowing how big the control panel was on a freighter that size.

“You've got one” Rey said knowing if she had to she could fly that thing all by herself.

She thought it must have something to do with men, women are always better at multitasking.

“You!” Finn and Poe both exclaimed. They reached the entrance and dashed up the ramp inside.

“Gunner position is down there” she said directing Finn to a ladder which he promptly began climbing down. “You follow me” pointing at Poe as she ran down another corridor.

They reached the cockpit and Rey hopped into the pilot seat, this made Poe pause, he had said he'd need a co-pilot, not that he wanted to be one.

“Hey! are you gonna just stand there or help me get this thing off the ground” Rey said staring at Poe who was lurking in the entranceway.

Poe slumped into the seat next to her and said, “Have you ever flown this thing?”

“No, this ship hasn't flown in years” Rey said flicking switches madly, Poe doing the same on his side.

“Hey, can you guys hear me” Finn shouted, finally figuring out how to use the intercom.

“Yeah Finn, we hear you. Same as last time buddy, once we're in the air keep those TIEs off our backs” Poe said encouragingly.

“I can do this, I can do this” Rey muttered under hear breath hoping Poe wouldn't hear her. The freighter's thrusters fired up and they rose clumsily into the air. TIEs came zooming around them, blasting the ground beneath them and sending the ship scraping along the ground.

Rey screamed, her stomach doing somersaults as the ship leaned over. She and Poe both straining to rebalance the ship. They slid along, smashing the sign into Niima Outpost and skidding along the ground sending people flying. Rey gunned the thrusters, finally sending them gliding up into the air.

“Wait, stay low! Hey stay low!” Finn yelled through the intercom.

“What?” Rey said confused.

“Stay low, it confuses their tracking”

“Hold on everyone, I'm going low” Rey said as she dived them down gliding just above the sand.

“Whoa!” Poe yelped as they swooped low. He wondered how the hell they were going to make it anywhere in this hunk of junk, it felt like it could break apart at any moment.

TIE fighters appeared out of nowhere firing at them, rocking the ship as one blast hit them.

“Are you gonna get the shields up or just sit there” She complained to Poe as he flicked switches and hit buttons but still nothing happened.

“Top panel on your right!” Rey directed him and then called down on the intercom “What are you doing down there? Are you ever gonna fire back?”

“I'm working on it! You should try sitting in this thing” Finn replied. Rey at last heard some cannon fire coming from the ship but it didn't seem to have that much effect of the enemy “Are the shields up?” Finn asked worriedly.

“Yes!” Poe answered back angrily.

“Alright! We're gonna need some cover then, quick”

“We're about to get some” Rey said knowing they were coming up on the valley of star destroyers, which were her scavenging grounds.

They made a turn around a massive sand dune and half a dozen destroyers came into view. Rey twisted and turned around them, pulling up quickly making risky manoeuvres to evade the TIE's. She heard something metal clanking around behind her. 

“Would you be more careful! BB-8's getting thrown around like a rag doll” Poe said his temper rising even more as he worried for his droid, if he got hurt the resistance could be doomed.

“I did tell everyone to hold on! Lock yourself down BB-8” She shouted back at the droid, she heard what sounded like spring lock on to the walls of the ship, that must have been BB-8's way of locking down considering he was a ball.

She heard more cannon fire from the ship and then saw a TIE breaking apart underneath them.

“Nice shot Finn”

“Thanks Poe” Finn said ecstatically.

There was still one TIE after them, it was hot on their heels and firing rapidly. They heard a loud bang from under the ship and Finn called over the intercom “The cannons stuck in forward position. I can't move it, you gotta lose them”

Rey looked around and saw one of the destroyer wrecks, she got an idea and headed straight for the thrusters.

“Get ready!” she yelled flicking some more switches.

“For what?” Finn questioned.

“You aren't doing what I think you're doing, are you?” Poe said knowing exactly what she was up to. Rey looped them over and zoomed straight through the thruster

“Are we really doing this?” Finn exclaimed.

“Apparently we are, brace yourself!” Poe called back slightly worried but at the same time impressed by the girl's courage to try such a risky move.

The funnel was tight and the TIE’s blasts set off explosions everywhere, making the ship rocket around violently.

“That TIE's closing in on us” Poe said agitated

“I know what I'm doing”

The TIE fired just as the ship swerved out of a chasm, Rey had thought was there. The ship was now high in the sky as Rey shut off the thrusters let the ship turn upside down allowing Finn a clear shot the TIE. She managed to turn the engine back on just before they hit the ground and soared away, seeing the smoking remains of the TIE fighter falling to the ground. Finn had done it.

“Whoo” he shouted up to the cockpit at his success.

Their enemies defeated they rose into the sky. In that moment it occurred to Rey they would have to leave the planet, she'd never left Jakku before. Her family was meant to come back for, what if they came back while she was gone. Except she was too far in this to back out now, she'd help them get to their base and then come straight back.

“Hey! What are you doing? We need to get out of here, it won't be long before they send reinforcements.” She heard Poe say impatiently.

Rey hadn't realised while she was so enveloped in her thoughts that she'd been subconsciously reducing their speed. She stared at Poe shaking herself out of her foggy mindset and pulled the lever forward speeding the ship up flying them into open space.

Rey looked out into the blackness of space and saw all the stars twinkle brightly, it looked so different out there than it had on the planet below. Just then a strange sensation overcame her, it wasn't painful, it was more like something was tugging at her. At that instant, something ripped and torn inside her letting something else break free. Then just as quickly as it had come it was gone, letting a broken breath Rey sped them off in outer space, into the great unknown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who's reading this xx


	3. Flight of the Falcon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the longest chapter I've ever done and it only took me 5 days to write, I have no idea how i did that. 
> 
> Thanks again to my bestie, for giving me the courage to do this.

Chapter 3 – Flight of the Falcon

Rey switched the ship to autopilot. She jumped out of her seat and headed for the lounge of the ship, Poe close on her heels. She saw BB-8 detach himself from the walls as she bumped into Finn who had come up to find them.

“Nice shooting, ” Rey said impressed.

“And that was some flying you guys”

“I have to agree with him, did anyone ever train you?” Poe said curiously.

“I've flown some ships but I've never left the planet before! Your last shot was dead on” she complimented Finn.

“Well you were amazing,” Poe said fascinated. They all smiled at each other and breathed out a sigh of relief after all that excitement.

“Thanks for helping us out of a tight spot there...”

“Rey, my name is Rey,” she said happily.

“Well I'm Poe Dameron” he said formally introducing himself, holding out his hand for Rey to shake. Rey looked towards Finn as Poe sensed his unease and clapped a hand around him. “And this is Finn”

But before they could say anything else, a pipe burst behind them steam pouring out of a grating below.

“Help me with this. Quick!” she said as she ran over with the boys and lifted the grating off.

“What's going on?” the boys said.

***

Kylo Ren stalked through the corridors of his star destroyer. After a restless night, he awoke to an infuriating morning. General Hux had informed him of the prisoners' escape with the help of one of their own. FN-2187 the traitor, he had sensed something about that trooper but he thought of it as a minor problem for the future.

Ren walked into his command room, the partial map to Skywalker displayed on the screen. They'd scanned through every database at their disposal, but it came up with nothing. Luke was clever, he had left out just enough to make it impossible to find him without the missing piece. And until his men found the droid hiding on Jakku, it was a waiting game.

Ren's mind travelled back to his restless night, voices inside his head calling dark messages to him. And then at the end of it a bright light, the voice of a girl. She'd called his old name trying to pull him back to the light.

He'd heard that voice before but only in his dreams, he didn't recognise it outside of them. He'd barely finished that thought when a vision passed through his mind. It was only a glimpse, a girl with brown hair and hazel eyes and then it disappeared.

Ren was in shock. How strange, that had never happened before, he'd thought of that voice countless times. True that the voice had been growing louder over time. When he was young, it was just a whisper, but now it was loud and clear, so much so that it often woke him up. He had thought that that was because he had chosen the dark side and his conflicted heart still trying to pull him to the light. Was this girl and the voice one and the same. Why now? What had happened?

Ren was pulled from his thoughts as he sensed someone entered the room. He felt the man's fear as he approached Ren.

“Sir...” the Lieutenant said desperately trying to gulp down his anxiety. “We were unable to acquire the droid on Jakku.”

Ren turned his head slightly towards the lieutenant intimidating him further.

“It escaped capture aboard a stolen Corellian YT model freighter”

Something stirred inside his memory from his old life, a Corellian freighter. There weren't many left and one, in particular, had been missing for some years, was it possible that the Millennium Falcon had flown again? But the real question was who had helped the droid escape?

“The droid stole a freighter?” he said in a mocking tone.

“Not exactly, Sir. It had help”

He turned to face his lieutenant who was now uselessly trying to avoid the answers he would have to give. “We have no confirmation, but we believe FN-2187 and the resistance pilot may have helped in the escape”

Anger surged through Kylo Ren at that moment as he ignited his lightsaber and turned to slash through the screens in front of him. Sparks flew everywhere as the lieutenant tried to shield himself from his leader's anger.

Ren's anger began to peter out with a few final stabs to the control panel and he deactivated his lightsaber.

“Anything else” he said realising the lieutenant hadn't fled, which obviously meant he had more to say.

“The two men were accompanied by a girl”

A strange mixture of fear and anger flowed through him. The vision, the voice. Ren extended his arm using the force to drag the man, he was raised an inch off the ground as his shoes scuffing along the floor and then suddenly his neck was gripped in Kylo Ren's hand.

“What girl?”

***

Rey was down in the shaft that was pouring steam, she searched around looking for the problem and saw where the steam was coming from, a little cylinder with a fan-like wheel on top.

“It's the motivator” she said popping up and seeing Finn and Poe both kneeling in front of her.

“Grab me a harris wrench.”

Finn crawled over to a toolbox, Poe had grabbed while Rey was hunting for the problem.

“How bad is it?” Poe asked as Rey ducked back down.

“If we wanna live, not good”

“The First Order will still be hunting for us,” Finn said looking consciously at Poe. “We gotta get out of this system.”

“I'll get you to your base, I just need to know where I'm going” Rey said Finn showing her the wrench in his hand and throwing it to her, she caught it and ducked back down.

“We need to tell her I'm not resistance” Finn whispered to Poe.

“Not yet, I don't know if we can trust her” Poe whispered back.

“Pilex driver, hurry” Rey ordered Finn as he dashed back into the toolbox. She turned to Poe “So where's your base?”

An awkward silence settled on the room. Rey looked between Poe's uncomfortable look and Finn's frozen stance and then it clicked.

“Oh you've got to be joking, if I was going to betray you I wouldn't have just helped you escape now would I?”

BB-8 looked between the two men, back and forth several times. He then beeped out rather aggressively to Rey.

“The Ileenium system?” she said surprised as Finn finally chucked her the pilex driver and she went back down again.

Poe looked at his droid stunned. BB-8 beeped to Poe. “Oh so just because you trust her means we have to?” BB-8 beeped his assent. “Fine, fine” he said miffed.

“Alright, I'll drop you all off. I need the bonding tape”

“What about you?” Finn asked

“I've gotta get back to Jakku” Rey snapped as Poe smirked at the look on Finn's face.

“Jakku! Why does everyone want to go back to Jakku?” Finn screeched looking pointedly at Poe. Finn was unsure of the kind of tape Rey needed, so he just started holding up items one by one as Rey yelled at him.

“No! No! No! If we don't patch it up, the propulsion tank will overflow and flood the ship with poisonous gas! No, no the one I'm pointing to!”

Poe sheepishly grabbed the tape next to Finn's knee and threw it to Rey and she disappeared below again. Finn sighed deflated.

“Hey Rey you're a pilot, you could fly anywhere. Why go back? You got a family, you got a boyfriend, cute boyfriend?” he asked curiously.

“None of your business, that's why?” she said defensively popping up and then back down again.

“Why would you care anyway?” Poe said an odd tone to his voice.

Rey climbed out of the shaft as all the steam dissipated. “Right that's fixed”

“How do you know, how to do that?” Finn asked.

“It's what I've done my whole life, scavenging for the best parts. The more experience I got the easier it was to reverse the process and fix things.”

The ship suddenly rumbled and everything when red, all the power had gone off.

“That can't be good,” Finn said darkly.

All three of them raced towards the cockpit. Rey sat down in her seat checking the controls but they were all dead. “Someone's locked onto us. All controls are overridden”

Finn climbed up on the instrument panel awkwardly trying to look out at what had got them. Above was a giant freighter dragging them inside, it could only be one thing.

“Oh no” he said falling into the seat next to Rey's “It's the First Order”

“What do we do?” Poe said, eager for a plan.

“There must be something,” Rey said racking her brains.

Finn's face lit up then “Wait you said poisonous gas earlier”

“Yeah, but I fixed that” she said confused.

“Can you unfix it?”

Rey stared at him for a moment and then she understood the plan. She bolted out of her seat and ran back to the lounge. The boys ran after her, Finn grabbed gas masks off the wall and threw one to Poe. Rey had jumped back into the shaft, Finn went in after her and handed her a gas mask.

“BB-8 over here buddy” Poe called to the droid. “Finn help me with him”

Finn turned towards Poe as he was lifting the droid. As Finn grasped the droid he misjudged the weight of him and he fell straight over the droid falling on top of him. He made a pained noise as BB-8 rolled off of him. Poe landed inside and went to help Finn up as Rey worked her magic. Poe and Finn put on their masks before they began to pull the grating over them.

The boys huddled around Rey as she worked, “You think this will work on the stormtroopers?”

“Yeah. Their masks filter smoke not toxins” Finn said as Rey looked at him curiously.

Through the grating above they saw the lights come back on inside the ship and Finn and Poe lifted the grating to peek out at the door.

“Hurry” Finn called back to Rey.

“I'm hurrying,” she replied nervously. The boys dropped the grating and ducked back down as the ramp door slid open. They all frozen desperate not to make a sound. They heard steps and then an older man's voice.

“Chewie, we're home” he said joyously.

The men moved around the lounge as the trio crouched below, their hearts hammering inside their heads. It was at that moment when Finn lost his balance and tumbled into Rey and something metal clanked as Rey fell.

The room was silent. Rey had been trying to unfix the thing as Finn put it, but the more she tried to rush the more she struggled. That's when the grating was pulled from on top of their hiding place. Standing above them was an older man and a Wookie, their weapons pointed at them. The trio raised their hands in surrender.

“Where are the others? Who's the pilot?” the man questioned.

“We're the pilots,” Rey said gesturing to Poe, she noted the look on Poe's face, a sort of uncertain recognition. Did he know this man?

“You two?” the man said surprised. The Wookie moaned in his language.

“No, it's true. We're the only ones on board” Rey said as Poe and Finn looked at her dumbfounded

“You can understand that thing?” Finn asked.

“And that thing can understand you too, so watch it. Come on outta there”

They all climbed out one by one, BB-8 sprung out using his magnetic arms to pull himself up and then he rolled away, as far from the chaos as possible.

“Where'd you get this ship?” the man asked.

“Niima Outpost”

“Jakku! That junkyard” the man said surprised

Finn perked up at that, at least someone knew what they were talking about. “Thank you, junkyard!” he said looking directly at Rey. She looked at Finn unimpressed.

“Told ya we should've double-checked the western reaches Chewie” the man said to the Wookie. “Who had it, Ducain?”

“I stole it from Unkar Plutt. He stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Ducain.” Rey said quickly.

“Who stole it from me! Well, you tell him that Han Solo just stole back the Millennium Falcon for good.” Han said walking away, smiling triumphantly.

“This is the Millennium Falcon? You're Han Solo?” Rey said excitedly.

Jakku was such a nothing planet that it was mostly forgotten about, but it was well travelled through by anyone less than reputable. She'd grown up sneaking around the outpost where every shady dealer came to trade. That's where she had heard stories of the Jedi, Smuggler and Princess. She couldn't believe they were all true.

When she was little she would pretend she was a Jedi, summoning lightsabers to her hand, battling Sith and playing Jedi mind tricks on weak-minded stormtroopers.

“I used to be” Han said.

“I knew it!” Poe said ecstatically.

“Han Solo? The rebellion general?” Finn said confused.

“No the smuggler” Rey corrected

“Wasn't he a war hero?” Finn asked looking at the Wookie. Chewie made a non-committal growl.

“He was both” Poe said speaking to Rey and Finn, then turning to Han “And am I glad to see you sir”

Han walked away unimpressed by Poe's enthusiasm, heading towards the cockpit.

Rey stared looking around at the ship, she had complained about being garbage, to think it was actually one of the most famous ships in all the galaxy.

“This is the ship that did the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs!” she shouted to Han.

“Twelve!” she heard him scream from the cockpit. Han was admiring his old cockpit as Poe caught up to him stumbling in interrupting the man's private moment.

“Sir, we need your help”

“My help?” Han said confused as he was studying the control panel of the falcon “Hey! Some moof milker put a compressor on the ignition line” He turned away from Poe heading back to the lounge trying to ignore the pilot who was right at his heel.

“Unkar Plutt did. I thought it was a mistake too” Rey said as Han came back into view.

“It puts too much stress on the hyperdrive” She and Han said together. Han looked curiously at the girl, she seemed to know her stuff.

Poe cut in between Rey and Han, coming face to face with Han looking him straight in the eyes trying to stress the urgency of the situation.

“Sir I need to get my droid back to the resistance base, he has important information for the General” Poe said emphasising the last word.

Han walked away from him now evidently uncomfortable. “I'm not getting involved, I'm done with all of that and General will certainly not want my help.”

Rey noted the tension in the room at the mention of this General and was very curious as to why. There must be some unfinished business.

Finn stepped forward then as Han was about to leave the room again. “The droid's carrying a map to Luke Skywalker”

Han stopped in his tracks.

“You knew him, didn't you?” Finn said he knew the stories, he'd grown up hearing them at the academy. The First Order had tried to make it seem like rebels were the evil ones who took down their benevolent leaders, who tried to bring peace to the galaxy. Finn saw through their lies, a lot of other troopers didn't.

“Yeah, I knew him” Han sighed knowing he had to help them. If anyone could save the day it was Luke. Han had lost hope after Luke disappeared, given up everything left to him and flown away with Chewie. But maybe with Luke back he could hope again, maybe they could save Ben.

Before Han could say another word, a loud shuddering bang came from outside of the ship. “Don't tell me a Rathtar's gotten loose”

Finn and Poe looked up in horror as Han ran out of the Falcon, leaving the rest of them to race after him.

Rey ran off the ramp and looked around in surprise, they were in a massive hanger the likes of which Rey had never seen, intact. She felt something nudge her leg as she looked down and saw BB-8 who had also come out to see what the commotion was.

“You're not hauling Rathtars on this freighter, are you?” she heard Finn say as Han was running over to a control panel filled with screens.

“I'm hauling Rathtars” he said as he searched the screens “Oh great. It's the Guavian Death Gang, they must have tracked us from Nantoon.”

Han began to run off down the corridor, as Rey caught up with the boys.

“What's a Rathtar?” she asked.

“They're big and dangerous,” Poe said frightened.

“You ever heard of the Trillia Massacre?” Finn said even more scared than Poe.

“No”

“Lucky you” Poe said remembering something truly terrible.

Han turned a corner, Chewie by his side now as they both looked into the cargo containers.

“I've got three of 'em going to King Prana.”

“Three! How'd you get them on board?” Finn asked getting even more nervous.

“I used to have a bigger crew,” Han said matter of factly. Chewie growled in agreement, while the trio looked aghast.

Han bent down, opening a hatch to the vent. “Get below deck and stay there until I say so. And don't even think about taking the Falcon.”

“What about BB-8?” Poe asked.

“He stays with me until I get rid of the gang, then you can have him and be on your way.”

“I'm not leaving my droid alone with you, I'm staying above deck” Poe argued, BB-8 was his family and they'd been separated too much of late.

“Fine! On your own head be it, stay behind Chewie and blend” Han shouted urgently knowing they didn't have time to argue “You two in!”

Finn looked like he was about to argue but thought better, it was best if he kept a low profile anyway “What about the Rathtars, where are you keeping them?”

Rey screamed as a loud thug came from behind them and a giant eye peered out of one of the containers.

“There's one,” Han said gesturing again for them to get into the hatch.

Finn jumped in and Rey sat on the edge Finn helping her lower herself as she spoke “What are you gonna do?”

“Same thing I always do, talk my way out of it” Han replied closing the hatch on them. Chewie made a moan of disagreement to that comment. Han looked at Chewie annoyed. “Yes I do. Every time.”

Rey and Finn were crawling through the vents as they heard the doors open. Han and a man with a deep accent were speaking. Most of their conversation was unintelligible until they crawled right under the Gang.

“They have blasters” Rey whispered, she worried for Poe as he was unarmed.

“A lot of 'em” Finn whispered back.

Rey turned around crawling back to where Han and the other now stood. It seemed the gang had loaned Han some money and they wanted it back before the job was even completed. She heard something about 'Kanjiklub' and then Rey heard the doors from the other side open and then more loud voices in a language she didn't understand. Rey stopped crawling so she could listen more intently.

“Your game is old. There's no one in the galaxy left for you to swindle.” Rey heard the man say, she knew they were in trouble, she had to come up with a plan. “That BB unit. The First Order is looking for one just like it. And three fugitives”

Rey looked up at Finn, his eyes bugging out of his head. She started crawling again, faster than before as she saw a fusebox on a corner “Wait,” she whispered pausing Finn “If we close the blast doors in that corridor, we can trap both gangs”

“Close the blast doors from here?”

“Resetting the fuses should do it,” she said punching the fuse buttons. But she realised her mistake too late as she heard shrieks and loud bangs from above. “Oh no”

“Oh no, What?” Finn said concerned.

“Wrong fuses”

She and Finn scurried along as a battle rained above them, blaster fire coming through the vents missing them by inches. They crawled along looking for a way up. More screams and crashes from above as they finally found a hatch up. Finn boosted Rey up and then climbed out himself, the coast was clear as they ran looking for the others.

They turned a corner and saw one of the beasts, its slimy tentacles pulling a man into its mouth and swallowing him whole. Rey clasped a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. Finn dragged her away from the horrendous sight.

The beast began to chase them, it was gaining quick as Finn turned a corner. Rey was in front of Finn now and she heard him scream from behind her. She turned to see the monster, its tentacles now coiling around his legs and tugging him away. It seemed the beast was full from its last meal and was taking Finn away for later.

“Finn!” She screamed chasing after the beast that was now retreating with its prize. Its tentacles were still a threat and made her retreat slightly to avoid them.

“Rey!” Finn yelled terrified.

“FINN!” She heard someone cry as she ran along another corridor. It was Poe, somehow he had gained a blaster and was firing at the creature as it took Finn away.

Poe was faster than Rey as they both raced after, they turned corner after corner. Rey was exhausted and lost sight of which way they went. She paused, her breaths sharp and painful, she called out hopelessly and then she heard a fussy noise behind her. It was another set of screens with controls for the blast doors

She searched for the pair and saw Finn still being carried by the beast as Poe raced along after them firing his blaster uselessly. She saw her chance, checking this time that she'd punched in the right code for the blast door and held her hand ready to strike the button.

Just as she was about to hit it when a strange sensation came over her as if telling her to wait a moment longer and then she slammed the button and the doors shut on the creature's tentacles leaving Finn on one side and the beast on the other. Rey sighed relieved and then stared at her hand as she ran to find the boys.

Why had she waited that extra moment to hit the button, that had never happened before, she was not upset she had, on the contrary, it was a perfect shot. But even she knew herself to be a very impulsive person and never one to hesitate, very strange indeed.

She found Finn untangling himself from the beast's sliced off limbs as Poe helped him to his feet.

“It had me! But the door...” Finn cried, Rey cutting him off

“That was lucky,” she said smirking to herself, urging the men to follow her. They found their way to the hangar the Falcon was held in and saw Han, Chewie and BB-8 about to board. Han seemed to be struggling with Chewie, it looked as if he was injured. Han looked over, hearing them running and called them.

“You close the door behind us” he ordered Rey and then pointed to Finn and Poe “You two help Chewie”

Han ran onboard, heading to the cockpit to take off. The boys carried the Wookie onboard each under one of Chewie's arms. Rey did as instructed as BB-8 rolled on the last one to come aboard, then dashed to the cockpit and jumped in the co-pilot seat.

“Hey, where are you going?” Han said surprised at her confidence, to sit in Chewie's seat.

“Unkar Plutt installed a fuel pump, too” She said flicking the switches to the pump “If we don't prime that, we're not going anywhere”

“I hate that guy,” Han said under his breath.

“And you could use a co-pilot”

“I got one, he's back there” he said gesturing to the lounge where Chewie lay in pain after being shot. Poe and Finn were trying to find a first aid kit to help him. Han sat down in his seat and began to engage the hyperdrive.

“Watch the thrust. We're going out of here at lightspeed.”

“From inside the hangar? Is that even possible?” she questioned nervously.

“I never ask that question till after I've done it!” Both he and Rey yelped in surprise as one of the Rathtars slammed into the front of the cockpit trying to swallow it. “This is not how I thought this day was gonna go! Angle the shield. Hang on back there.”

“No problem” Poe said sarcastically struggling with Chewie.

“Come on baby, don't let me down” Han said to his ship as the Falcon began to float and shudder. Han waited but nothing happened. “What?”

“Compressor” Rey pointed out. Han hit it and the Falcon surged forward, the Rathtar flying into bits as they entered hyperspace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone for reading this xx


	4. Master of the Knights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my two besties as always, for never letting me give up especially during the writing for this chapter.

Chapter 4 - Master of the Knights

Kylo Ren stood before the giant throne in the audience chamber, waiting for his master. After his mission to Jakku had failed, he’d been ordered to return to Starkiller base. They’d put a bounty out on the droid and fugitives. Ren anxiously awaited news of any sightings.

Not only so he could locate and destroy his old master, but because this would lead him to the girl. He was fascinated by the very thought of her. The reports from Jakku stated the girl was a scavenger, she’d been there from a very young age and she had never left until now.

It couldn’t be a coincidence, she left her home planet and then strange things begin to happen. His vision and then a disturbance in the force…

Earlier that day Ren had been in his training room with the Knights of Ren. After his awful morning, he needed to release some of his pent up anger.

His knights had encircled him, it was a training exercise they did often. He could not expect his adversaries to come at him one at a time, so learning to face multiple opponents at once was key.

He ignited his saber and the men around him began to fire their weapons. He blocked, froze and deflected all the blasts aimed at him. He smirked under the mask he wore as he deflected one blast directly at a target on the wall, hitting it dead center.

He panted thickly through his mask waiting for the second wave of attacks. His knights leapt forward, their laser blades raised. Ren blocked and parried the strikes against him forcing the men back. The six of them charged closing in around him. Ren jumped into the air dodging their attack and landed far from them.

Ap’lek, Cardo, Kuruk, Trudgen, Ushar and Vicrul, his knights. They were ruthless all trained from birth. Hand-picked by Snoke for one specific reason, they were all force sensitive. Nowhere near as powerful as Ren, but he did have an advantage. His bloodline was one of the most powerful in the galaxy.

Alone each would struggle but together they were a match for him. And while he may lead them, he always kept in the back of his mind that their allegiance would be to Snoke first. They were often sent on secret missions by Snoke that Ren wasn’t party to. His mission was to complete his training, so when the time came he would be ready to defeat Luke.

The group of men turned to face him, preparing their next attack, but Cardo raced forward. He had always been the most reckless of the group, trying to show Ren up whenever possible. They all tried to take Snoke’s golden boy down a peg or two.

Ren knew what Cardo was planning before he decided himself. They both raised their hands, ready to use the force to push the other over. Ren was stronger he knew he would win. He had planned to just flick the man aside, no point hurting one of his own team.

As he began to bend the force to his will, more power then he could control came surging through his hand. The flow of energy made all the knights fly to the ground, even Ren stumbled a step back.

Vicrul was the first to stand again and stared at his master, Ren had always considered him his second in command.

“Ren, what was that?” Vicrul said knowing that that was not Ren’s doing.

What in the galaxy had happened. A curious sensation came over all of them, as though something or someone had awoken.

Ren was sure this was part of the reason Snoke had summoned him to the audience chamber. If Ren had felt something then no doubt his master had as well.

General Hux walked into the room at that moment, the supreme leader must have needed to speak to them both. Hux came level with Ren and gave him his usual glare. Ren and Hux had a testy relationship, Hux was a true fanatic of the order. He hated how Ren had rose through the ranks, to the point where he was now above Hux.

They stood in silence waiting. Ren was trying to clear his mind in preparation for his master’s appearance, as thoughts of the girl kept popping into his mind. If Snoke entered his thoughts, his curiosity for the girl would be a problem.

The force was pulling him to this girl but he could not let it interfere with his mission to retrieve the map. But in a way, he knew that one would lead to the other and he wouldn’t let Snoke stop him.

The giant hologram appeared above Ren and Hux then, Snoke loomed over them as Ren forced his feelings to become neutral and focused.

“Kylo Ren. General Hux. The droid will soon be delivered to the resistance. Leading them to the last Jedi. If Skywalker returns the new Jedi will rise.

“Supreme Leader I take full responsibility for the…”

“General!” Snoke growled rising from his throne. “Our strategy must now change”

“The weapon. It is ready. I believe the time has come to use it. We shall destroy the government that supports the resistance, the Republic. Without their friends to protect them the resistance will be vulnerable and we will stop them before they reach Skywalker.” Hux said confidently.

Ren turned to look at Hux during this speech, they were planning to destroy five planets. He tried to not to let his thoughts betray him, but he was not comfortable with the idea of planet destruction.

There were billions of innocents on those planets and only a handful of troublesome rebels who could be dealt with in other ways, like how his grandfather and the emperor ruled in the days before the completion of the Death Star. Surely to bring peace to the galaxy meant they must have planets left to rule.

“Go, oversee preparations,” Snoke said sitting back down, pleased with their plan.

“Yes, Supreme Leader,” Hux said smugly, he and Ren glared at each other as Hux turned to leave. Ren turned back to his master, waiting for Snoke to speak.

“There’s been an awakening. Have you felt it?” he asked softly.

“Yes,” Ren answered struggling to keep his voice steady.

“I have sent the Knights to seek out this disturbance. While you will continue your search for Skywalker” Ren nodded “There’s something more. The droid we seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon in the hands of your father, Han Solo”

Ren looked up at his master in surprise, he had suspected the falcon’s involvement but not his father’s. No not his father that man was Ben Solo’s father, not Kylo Ren’s.

“He means nothing to me”

“Even you Master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a challenge. And only once you have faced this test can you truly complete your training”

“By the grace of your training I will not be seduced.”

“We shall see, We shall see.” Snoke said before his hologram disappeared.

Ren stood staring at the floor in the now-empty audience chamber. Questions ran through his mind. The disturbance, the girl he thought. She must be important if Snoke sent the knights unknowingly after her.

Doubt filled his mind, why had Snoke not told him. Surely this is what the knights had been after all along. But why? Why?

Someone entered the room at that moment. “Sir the fugitives and the droid have been located”

Ren turned to look at the officer. “Where?”

“Takodana”

“Prepare my ship!”

***

Ren sat in his quarters aboard his star destroyer, as they traveled to Takodana to capture the fugitives. Doubt still flooded his mind. Snoke was still keeping secrets, he’d always had his suspicions that Snoke was not telling him everything, like the constant missions he sent the Knights on. It was clear to him now that it was the girl they searched for and she seemed to be key to Snoke’s plan. But why? What was Snoke hiding?

Conflict grew in his heart. He closed his eyes and saw hazel eyes staring back at him, lighting the insides of his mind. He felt a pull inside him trying so hard to draw him out of the darkness. But what was there to go back to his uncle wanted him dead and his parents had abandoned him long ago.

They’d never want him back, but Snoke wanted him, needed him. He knew what would help in a moment like this. He went to his vault and pulled out the burn and charred remains of his Grandfather’s helmet. He placed it on a podium and sat down in front of it and spoke,

“Forgive me. I feel it again… the pull to the light. Supreme Leader senses it. Show me again, the power of the darkness and I will let nothing stand in our way. Show me, Grandfather and I will finish what you started.”

He reached out to the mask and heard the voice of his Grandfather…

_‘I see through the lies of the Jedi, I do not fear the dark side’_

It comforted him to hear the words, yes all the Jedi did was lie. And he too did not fear the dark side, the power from his emotions were stronger than anything Luke had ever taught him. He reached out again.

_‘You don’t know the power of the dark side. I must obey my master’_

Yes he saw it clearly now, he must trust that Snoke had his best interests at heart as he always had, he was the only one who did. And once he completed his training his power would be so great that no one could ever stand against him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone reading this xx


	5. The Vision

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has been my one of favorite chapters to write. Thanks once again to my besties for their continue support.

Chapter 5 – The Vision

The Falcon was hurtling through hyperspace, alarm bells blaring and sparks flying everywhere.

“Electrical overload,” Han said frantically

“I can fix that,” Rey said as she stood opening the smoking panel to her left.

“The coolant's leaking”

Rey thought for a moment before she came up with an idea.

“Try transferring auxiliary power to the-”

“Secondary tank!” They both finished.

“I got it,” Han said as he programmed the Falcon change it over. Rey turned back to the still smoking compressor panel.

Meanwhile, in the lounge, Finn and Poe were wrestling with Chewie trying to help him with his injured arm.

“Chewie, come on!” Finn said trying to get a bandage around the Wookie's shoulder. “Poe can you come help with this giant hairy thing”

“Oh sure and let him try and rip my arms off again!” Poe said clutching at his arm. He thought the Wookie might have dislocated it, he was in that much pain.

The ship rocked around then, Finn stumbled into Chewie accidentality hitting his injured arm. The Wookie roared in pain sending BB-8 screeching to the cockpit.

“You hurt Chewie, you're gonna deal with me!” Han yelled from the cockpit.

“Hurt him? He almost killed us six times!” Finn shouted back as Chewie grabbed him by the collar “Which is fine”

Back in the cockpit, the compressor was destabilising the hyperdrive and Rey was desperately trying to solve it when it hit her. She twisted the wires connected to the compressor around her hand straining to pull it out.

“The hyperdrive blows there's gonna be pieces of us in three different systems,” Han said just Rey yanked the component out of its socket. The alarms faded away and Han looked at the girl puzzled “What'd you do?”

“I bypassed the compressor” Rey said as she hopped back into her seat excitedly.

Han stared at her with a look of impressed shock. “Huh” he said standing up to leave the cockpit. BB-8 was stood in the doorway looking curiously at Han. “Move, ball” He said as the droid rolled backwards.

Han walked into the lounge to find Chewie sitting up in bed his shoulder all wrapped up in bandages. He made an apologetic groan to Han.

“Nah, don't say that, you did great. Just rest” Han said soothingly. He walked over to Poe and Finn who were sat on the sofa. “Good job boys, thanks”

“You're welcome” Poe replied abruptly as Finn leaned on the table in front of him and the holochess board popped up. Chewie moaned longingly. Just as Rey came wandering through to the lounge.

“So fugitives, huh?”

The trio looked at each other sheepishly as Finn managed to shut off the holotable.

“The First Order wants the map, Poe and Finn are with the resistance, I'm just a scavenger,” Rey spoke up as Finn wriggled uncomfortably.

Han stared at Finn and Poe with a knowing look and then turned to BB-8.

“Let's see whatcha got”

BB-8 turned to look at Poe “Go ahead, buddy”

The droid moved to the center of the room, he tilted up and a blue projection filled the room with planets, stars and systems. They all stared up in wonder but Han saw one glaring problem.

“This map's not complete. It's just a piece. Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him.” he said walking through the map, thinking of the last time he saw Luke such pain and regret in his eyes.

_I failed him Han, I can never make things right..._

“Why'd he leave?” Rey asked.

“He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice turned against him, destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible... He walked away from everything.”

“Do you know what happened to him?” Finn asked.

“There're a lot of rumors. Stories. The people who knew him the best think he went looking for the first Jedi temple.”

“The Jedi were real?” Rey said as she stood up walking closer to Han.

“I used to wonder that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo magical power holding together good, evil, the dark side and the light.” Han said, turning to stare at the trio. “Crazy thing is, it's true. The Force, the Jedi, all of it. It's all true.”

BB-8 shut off the hologram making everyone come out of their reverie.

“You want my help? You're getting it. Gonna see an old friend. She'll get your droid home.” Han said walking back to the cockpit. Chewie followed behind him “You should be resting”

But the Wookie just growled back argumentatively.

Rey came to sit beside the boys, they sat in silence for a moment before Poe spoke up,

“Did you notice the way Han clammed up when he mentioned what happened to Luke?”

“Not really he seems like a very vague person in general” Finn said.

“What are you getting at Poe?” Rey asked wrapping her arms around her knees, then resting her head on them.

“Well from what I know it wasn't just some boy, it was Ben Solo, Han's son was the apprentice who turned against Luke”

“Han has a son?” Rey said stunned.

“Yeah he disappeared about six years back, Luke was training his nephew to become a Jedi but something happened, he destroyed it all and then disappeared. It was a big scandal for the General at the time”

“The General... you mean General Organa?” Finn said knowing the name from First Order briefings.

“The one and only” Poe said turning to Rey who had one eyebrow raised “You may know her better as Princess Leia” Rey's eyes widened and legs dropped back to the floor at this news.

“I wonder what made Ben do it?” Finn thought out loud.

“No one knows really, just rumors and I doubt Luke will shine a light on it when we find him, it's most likely the reason he left in the first place.”

Rey sat in thought. She couldn't believe all the stories she'd heard were true, especially the ones of the princess and the smuggler and they had a kid to boot. This Ben Solo, the traitor, she wondered what would make someone betray their own family.

“I met him once,” Poe said, snapping Rey out of her thoughts “When I was a kid, I must have been about seven, the General came to visit the old rebel base with her son. She spoke to my mother and there he was this little black-haired boy clinging to his mother's leg. He was probably four at the time, about six years later he went off to train with Luke and then was never seen again”

“Where do you think he is now?” Rey asked.

“Who knows? Probably in exile, disguised or dead. I couldn't say for certain”

Chewie entered the room then, making a small moan to Rey and she stood up nodding.

“Don't worry Chewie, I'll go help him even if he is too proud to ask,” Rey said walking away as Chewie chuckled.

The boys followed Rey to the cockpit, while Chewie went to lie down again.

“This is our stop,” Han said as the trio sat down, Rey in the co-pilot seat, while the boys sat behind them.

The ship glided out of hyperspace to the view of a beautiful blue and green planet. Rey watched in awe as they entered the atmosphere. The sloping hills covered in lush green vegetation surrounded by crystal blue waters.

“I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy” She whispered her eyes watering.

Han stared at her sadly. He realised how much she'd missed out on being stuck on a backwater desert planet, but maybe he could change that.

They flew across a beautiful lake, landing by a grand castle on the horizon. Rey jumped out of her seat and raced through the ship to the ramp. Once out of the ship she walked down to the lake's edge and closed her eyes soaking in the warmth of the planet.

The warmth of the air was comfortable and inviting, nothing like Jakku which was harsh and unpleasant. She heard the water lapping at the edge of the lake and felt the cool breeze coming across the lake. The planet was beautiful, Rey couldn't believe how calm she felt, she never thought she could feel this peaceful in her whole life.

She was so entranced by the serenity of the place, she didn't hear Han approach her until he was right by her side.

“You might need this” Han said presenting a blaster to her.

“I think I can handle myself,” She said confidently.

“I know you do. That's why I'm giving it to you.” She took it and held it out in front of her closing one eye to aim. “You know how to use one of those?”

“Yeah you pull the trigger”

Han rolled his eyes and lowered her arm “There's a little bit more to it than that. There's a safety on it so you don't shoot yourself instead” he said pointing out the safety to her “You got a lot to learn. You got a name?”

“Rey” she smiled.

“Rey...” he said fidgeting awkwardly deciding something “I've been thinking about bringing on some more crew, Rey. A second mate, someone to help out. Someone who can keep up with Chewie and me, appreciates the Falcon.”

Rey moved to stand in front of him “Are you offering me a job?”

“I wouldn't be nice to you. It doesn't pay much,” he said avoiding the question.

“You're offering me a job,” she said excitedly.

“I'm thinking about it,” he said sarcastically.

Rey's smile faded as she realised as much as she would like to travel to the galaxy with them going on crazy adventures. She couldn't she'd made a promise and she intended to keep it.

“Well?”

“If you were, I'd be flattered. But I have to get home.”

“To Jakku?” he said surprised.

She was worried what if they were back on Jakku already? What if they'd already left?

“I've already been away too long”

Chewie, Poe and Finn walked down the ramp then, Han turned away from Rey disappointed.

“Chewie, check out the ship as best you can.” He said turning back to Rey seeing her with the blaster unknowingly pointed at him, he gave her a disgruntled look and pushed her hand down. “It's too bad. Chewie kind of likes you.”

Rey gave him a knowing smile as he walked away and then sped off to catch up with him, Finn, Poe and BB-8 trailing behind them.

***

As they walked around the lake, Poe was desperately trying to catch up with Han.

“General, can you explain to me what we're doing here?”

“First of all kid, it's Han and we're here to get your droid on a clean ship”

“Clean?” Rey and Finn asked.

“Do you think it was luck that Chewie and I found the Falcon? If we can find it on our scanners, the First Order's not far behind. Want to get BB-8 to the Resistance? Maz Kanata is our best bet.”

Poe stalled for a second “Maz?”

“Yeah...” Han said as they reached the castle and saw a giant statue and thousands of flags looming over them.

“So this is the famous watering hole, I've heard so much about” Han gave him a curious look “Leia's often in contact with Maz to help with the resistance”

Han grumbled as he climbed the steps to the door.

“We can trust her, right?” Finn said catching up to Poe.

“Relax Finn, if Leia trusts her, we can,” Poe said reassuringly as he caught up to Han.

“Fair warning everyone, Maz has run this place for a thousand years but she's a bit on an acquired taste, so let me do the talking. And whatever you do don't stare...”

“At what?” the trio said.

“Any of it” Han replied pushing the door to the cantina open as sound erupted from inside.

The room was filled with music and noisy chatter. Rey saw a band playing at the back of the room as they pushed through the crowds to the bar, where they found a short woman with large goggle glasses on placing a tray of glasses on the counter.

She turned as though sensing something. She spotted them and then bellowed “Han Solo!”

The whole bar went silent as everyone turned to look. “Oh boy” Han muttered waving to her “Hey, Maz”

The noise returned to the bar as Maz walked over to them. “Where's my boyfriend?”

“Chewie's working on the falcon,” he said awkwardly.

Rey smiled and put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling.

“I like that Wookie,” Maz said as Rey stifled a laugh. “I assume you need something. Desperately. Let's get to it.”

She waved a hand and walked away, the gang followed behind. They sat down around a table laden with food as Poe spoke,

“Nice to finally meet you Maz, This is Finn and Rey and I'm Poe Dameron.”

Maz stared at him keenly “Ah, so you're the one Leia talks about, all good things I promise”

Poe smiled as she turned to look at Han. “You are right back in the mess” She laughed.

“Maz, I need you to get this droid to Leia”

“Why?” The little droid rolled over to Maz then and beeped at her. “A map” she looked around at all of them “To Skywalker himself,” She made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sigh.

“Will you help us?” Poe asked

“Hmm... No'' They all stared at her confused. “Someone has been running away from this fight for too long,” she said waggling a finger in Han's direction.

Rey had stayed silent through this whole conversation. She was enjoying the food that Maz had given them and it was real food. Not just portions to help her survive but actual flavour filled fruit, it was like nothing she'd tasted before.

She stopped eating though, as what Maz had said made her curious.

“Go home, Han” Maz pleaded.

“Leia doesn't want to see me,” He said sadly.

“Please we came here for your help,” Finn asked.

“What fight are you talking about?” Rey said as Maz turned to gaze at her.

“The only fight there is. The light against the dark. Evil has taken many forms over the ages. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us.”

Finn fidgeted around at the speech. Tension building inside him as he cried,

“There is no fight against the First Order! Not one we can win. Look around. There's no chance we haven't been recognized already. I bet you the First Order is on their way right...” He paused as Maz adjusted her goggles, looking intently at him. “What's this? What are you doing?”

Her eyes were magnified uncommonly wide, she climbed on to the table and crawled towards Finn. Plates, cutlery and food flying everywhere as Finn pushed his chair back.

“Solo, what is she doing?”

“I don't know, but it ain't good,” Han said looking entertained by this turn of events

“If you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people. I'm looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run.”

And with that Finn stood up and sped away to the door. Poe and Rey looked at each other and then jumped up to follow after him.

“Finn!” Poe shouted. Finn stopped at the door, his breathing was rapid.

“Finn?” Rey asked worriedly. Finn turned his eyes were watering.

“They'll slaughter us. Where I'm from. What I've seen. We all need to run.” Finn implored.

“I don't understand,” Rey said stunned.

“I'm not who you the I am! I helped Poe escape, but not out of any noble responsibility. I needed to escape too, I was a stormtrooper but in my first battle, I made a choice. I wasn't going to kill for them. So I ran.”

“You can just go, I won't let you,” Poe said

“I'm not a hero, like you Poe. I'm just trying to survive”

“I know you think that Finn, but you're one of the bravest people I know. You're a good fighter, it won't be easy but we need to do more than just survive, we need to live.”

Finn looked on the verge of tears after this declaration.

“Come on buddy lets get some air and talk some more,” Poe said wrapping his arm tightly around Finn pulling him along. He turned to look at Rey giving her a gentle smile.

Rey started to follow as the boys walked outside. But she froze, she thought that she heard the faint cries of a child. She followed the noise, a strange aura surrounded her as she went.

Han and Maz watched as Rey headed towards the basement.

“Who's the girl?” Maz asked curiously.

Rey walked down the stairs into a dark basement. The cries were growing louder, she barely heard BB-8 as he clunked down the stairs after her. She moved down the hall confused stopping at the very end. The door in front of her opened of its own accord.

She wandered inside, something was calling to her from a small wooden chest. She knelt on the floor and slowly opened the chest. Inside was a small cylinder object... a lightsaber?

This was what was calling to her. She extended her trembling hand and grabbed it, holding it up, she felt a surge of heat flow her hand.

Suddenly she sensed a change around her. She screamed and looked up in shock, she stood up seemingly back on the Falcon. It seemed cleaner, newer. She looked around seeing a small orb hanging in the air. She heard an unfamiliar voice speak...

_These are your first steps Rey..._

The orb in front of her shot a blaster at her, she dodged it and instinctually ignited the saber in her hand. She stared at the blue glow that had shot up, as the orb fired again, she blocked the blast again and again. One last blast came flying straight for her as a bright light blinded her.

The scene around her had changed as she opened her eyes and saw the Jakku sun beating down on her. A ship flying away in the distance. She heard a woman's voice call out...

_Be brave my darling, promise me you will stay here, we will return soon..._

“I will” Rey whispered to no one. Sand blew into her face and then she was in front of her AT-AT. She walked towards it cautiously. She bent down entering, to see a little girl her hair tied in three buns, huddled in the corner crying. Rey looked over to her wall covered in scratches to find only fourteen marks there.

The floor beneath her turned abruptly and she fell into muddy ground. Winded she looked up and saw a burning building. To her left she found a man covered in a cape, a mechanical hand came from underneath a rested against a blue and white astromech. Screams from the man filled her ears.

_No..._

A flash of lightning changed her surroundings again. Still lying on the ground, but it was now hard cracked stone. Lightning flashed again as she pulled herself to her feet, now encircled by six masked figures. They were all chanting in a language she didn't recognise. In the distance, another masked figure approached a red crossguard lightsaber in their hand. They noticed her and increased their pace, she stumbled back as another flash of lightning hit.

Snow fell from the sky around her, she was now in a forest with an urge to run, so she turned and ran, snow crunching beneath her feet. From behind a tree, the same masked figure appeared brandishing their saber once more she tumbled back into the snow, however it was no longer snow. She was back in the basement of Maz's castle.

Rey lay on the floor, BB-8 peered at her, his head tilted as though confused. Her breath was unsteady and tears crept into her eyes. She heard steps then. Maz walked quickly over to her, as Rey stood.

“What was that? I shouldn't have gone in there.” Rey said trembling the lightsaber still tightly clutched in her hand.

“That lightsaber was Luke's. And his father's before him and now, it calls to you!” Maz said in awe.

“I have to get back to Jakku,” She said overwhelmed.

“Han told me.” She took off her goggles and held out her hand to Rey. “Dear child. I see your eyes. You already know the truth. Whomever you're waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back.”

Tears came thick and fast as she took Maz's hand and knelt down to her level. She felt it in her heart, no matter how much she wanted to hope. She knew deep within her that they were never coming back. She closed her eyes desperate to hold on to any hope left.

“But... there's someone who still could.” Rey looked at the woman in front of her and saw the small hope she needed in her eyes.

“Luke?”

“Maybe... The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead. I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it. The light. I have not sensed power like yours for generations. It's always been there. It will guide you. ”

What Maz said seemed right but these feelings felt all new to her. It was all too much too soon. What was her place in all this? Why did the saber call to her? She was a scavenger from nowhere. A nobody.

“The saber. Take it.” Maz said. But Rey couldn't take any more of this, she dropped the saber in front of Maz.

“I'm never touching that again. I don't want any part of this.” She sprung up and bolted from the room, she ran through the bar and out to the forest. Her mind whirred as she panted, tired from running. She stared back at the castle, wanting to reject all she'd been told, seen and felt. She continued on into the forest, an ominous feeling settling around her, something was coming...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone who is reading this xx


	6. The Girl

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a shorter chapter today, thanks to everyone leaving kudos and commenting it means a lots. 
> 
> And thanks once again to my amazing besties for everything they do for me.

Chapter 6 - The Girl

Kylo Ren stood aboard the bridge of his star destroyer. He knew the time had come for the First Order to move against the Republic. Hux was likely making a grand speech to his troops, while Ren travelled on to Takodana to complete his mission.

He stared out into the darkness of space when a coldness ran through his whole body. Five bright red beams shot across the open plain in front of him. No doubt from Starkiller Base, they were headed for five small dots in the distance. The Hosian system where the Republic was based.

Luke had once told him of the destruction of his mother's home planet Alderaan in the days of the Empire. How Obi-Wan 'Ben' Kenobi, his namesake, had sensed a disturbance in the force. _As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced._

He'd always imagined what an awful feeling that must have been to experience. But now he had to feel it first hand, the terror, the cries and the dreadful eerie silence afterwards. However, it was not millions as with Alderaan but more like trillions.

Ren struggled to keep himself steady, unwilling to show any sign of weakness in front of his men. He forced the terrible feelings away readying himself for his mission.

An officer walked towards him then “Sir, we are approaching Takodana.”

“Prepare for a ground invasion, find the droid and capture the fugitives alive.” He swept away heading for his own ship.

***

Ren landed on the planet, destruction rained around him. He surveyed the area and as he did he sensed a presence he had not felt in a long time, Han Solo... He halted in his steps.

“Sir the droid was spotted heading west, with a girl” A trooper informed him.

He turned quickly heading west, keen to put as much distance between himself and Han Solo as possible.

He strode through the forest listening for any sounds. But it was quiet, too quiet, the creatures of the forest must have sensed his presence and were hiding. So all he could hear was the occasional twig crunching underfoot, or the sound of a ship passing overhead.

He'd been walking through the forest for a few minutes with no sign of anyone. He stood still for a moment and closed his eyes. He searched through the Force, looking for any beings around him.

He felt many people behind him, one making him uneasy again. And then he found it, a single strong signature. He increased his pace in that direction.

He came to a grove, stones high above his head. He heard movement close by and sensed an attack looming. He pulled his lightsaber from his belt and held it tightly in his hand ready for a fight.

He crept forward trying not to make a sound until he reached the edge of the rocks. He sensed an intense fear from behind them. He ignited his saber and stepped into view of a girl her weapon raised.

She fired the moment she saw him, blast after blast she shot. All of which he blocked. The girl stumbled back and fired again, then ducked behind a boulder. She climbed up a ridge in an attempt to get away.

But Ren simply leapt into the air and landed in front of her. She fired once more, backing away. Tired of their little game and his impatience growing it, he threw up his hand and used the force to immobilize the girl.

She stood frozen, Ren made a few cautious steps towards her noting her appearance. Brown hair tied in three buns it looked very childlike, though she was definitely a woman. She was tall but very thin. She was wearing a lightweight and dirty covered material, she'd probably had to scavenge them off Jakku. Fear was clear on her face. Her eyes were a fascinating hazel, the same ones from his vision. They stared at one another, a strange recognition across her face and also passing between them.

'It is you' he thought.

“The girl I've heard so much about,” Ren said to her, a smirk on his face, even though she would never see it as his mask covered his face.

He stalked around her as she tried to fight against his hold on her.

“The droid,” he said, focused once more on his mission. He raised his saber in view of her face. Fear radiated off of her as he did “Where is it?”

Ren lowered his saber and continued his circle around her. Thinking as he'd maybe gone a bit too far with his threat as he saw the terror on her face. He came face to face with her again waiting for an answer, but she stayed silent.

He extended his hand ready to enter her mind. Curiously though he was struggling. He honestly didn't think he was trying as hard as he could have, for some reason he didn't want to. Even so, he had to press further, Snoke needed the information.

He saw flashes of recent memories.

_Rey, my name’s Rey..._

_I have to get back to Jakku..._

_Whomever you're waiting for on Jakku, they're never coming back... But there's someone who still could..._

“Rey” a chill ran through him as her name crossed his lips. “The scavenger from Jakku. Will you tell me where the droid is? Or do I have to do that again.”

She stood shaking from still trying to free herself from his grasp, she was determined not to say anything and keep her mind blank.

Ren walked closer to her, fingertips away as he raised his hand once again. Anger was written across Rey's face, then it suddenly changed to a pained look as he delved back into her mind. 

He was puzzled by what he saw next, it was a staff it looked like it was made up of all kind of parts she'd scavenged and it was lent against an all too familiar sofa. Then he understood she wanted her weapon but she had left it on the Falcon, he sighed could she not think about killing him for one second. 

And another memory appeared...

_This map's not complete. It's just a piece..._

This memory was clearer and showed him his father's face. He looked older, his hair had gone white and wrinkles surrounded his face. He slowly pulled away from Rey's mind, unable to let go of the image of his father.

That's when it dawned on him. The map. The droid had shown them the map.

“The map. You've seen it.”

The look of horror on her face confirmed the truth.

Trooper approached them then, “Sir, Resistance fighters” he turned away from Rey to glare at the trooper, he needed more time with the girl and the resistance made it impossible to continue it there. “We need more troops”

No, what they needed was to leave. Head back to Starkiller Base and continue his interrogation.

“Pull the division out. Forget the droid.” Ren turned back to Rey walking behind her. “We have what we need” He waved his hand and she fell unconscious into his arms.

Ren walked back through the forest, Rey cradled against him. She was strangely light in his arms but he felt awkward carrying her away. But somehow he knew it was the right thing to do, the Force was telling him so. Snoke would get what he wanted and Ren could finally understand what connected him to this girl.

They came into sight of the castle ruins. Ren was in a hurry to get away but it was difficult when someone was resting in his arms. Being careful as he stepped over rumble so as not to jostle her too much. A sudden presence in the area made it difficult to concentrate. He felt shock, fear and anger in short bursts as he knew Han Solo had seen him.

The troopers were nearly all aboard the shuttle, but as he began to climb the ramp, he heard desperate screams from behind.

“Rey! Rey!”

As the shuttle door closed he turned his head, he saw the traitor FN-2187 and the Pilot making a mad dash in a futile attempt to help their friend. But it was too late the shuttle rose into the air and soared away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone see you next week for Chapter 7 xx


	7. Join the Resistance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to my besties

Chapter 7 – Join the Resistance

Maz's castle was set at the foot of a lake and forests encircled the rest of it. Between the castle walls and the forest were patches of bright green grass. And that's where Poe and Finn were to be found lent against the cobblestone walls. Finn had his head resting on Poe's shoulder as Poe held him tightly.

“You feeling any better?” Poe asked gently. Finn had been on the verge of a panic attack when Poe had pulled him around the side of the castle.

He'd been able to calm himself down gradually and his breathing slowed down. Hearing the wind blow through the trees of the forest in front of them and Poe's arm firmly around him had a calming effect of Finn.

“I'm sorry Poe, I shouldn't have tried to run away,” Finn said, his voice shaking.

“Hey, I get it, pal. If I'm honest, I'm scared to. War is not a fun thing to be a part of, but we can't let the First Order win. Their reign of tyranny will spread across the galaxy if we don't”

He turned Finn to face him, one hand on each of Finn's arms, “Someone has to stop them and we can help with that. Your knowledge of the First Order could be invaluable to General Leia. You can do this.”

Poe looked over Finn's shoulder, expecting to see Rey lurking behind them not wanting to intrude on their intimate moment. But she was nowhere to be found.

Finn nodded, still unsure. Just then he felt a disconcerting feeling pass over him. He looked up to the sky in horror. A red beam of light was streaking across the sky far in the distance.

Poe turned and stared at what Finn was looking so intently at “Wha... What is that?” he said eyes wide, his hand coming up to clasp his mouth.

“The First Order, they've done it.”

“We need to get back!” Poe grabbed Finn's hand dragging him away.

“They've been building it for years, I worked on the base,” Finn said guiltily.

“It's not your fault Finn,” Poe called back running around the castle.

They made their way back around to the front of the castle. They found a crowd assembled outside, Han and Chewie at the head of it. They were all staring up at the horrifying explosion that was a whole system being destroyed.

“It was the Republic” Finn stated, “Where's Rey?”

Han pushed back through the crowd, heading into the castle and taking the stairs to the basement. They met Maz walking despondently up.

“You don't need to tell me I already know,” Maz said in a drained voice before the men could even say a thing.

“Maz, where did she go?” Han asked

Maz walked back down the stairs as she spoke “She fled when she found... Well, Let me show you.”

The men followed her to the back of the basement.

“I've had this for ages” Maz knelt down and grabbed something for one of the many boxes inside the room. “Kept it locked away”

Han looked down in shock when he saw the Lightsaber in her hand

“Where'd you get that?”

“Is that a...” Poe started.

“All good questions for another time”

She held out the saber to Finn, who looked on puzzled.

“Take it. Find your friend, she will need this now more than ever”

Finn took it as the whole room began to shake.

“Those beasts. They're here”

They all hurried back up the stairs, the bar was completely destroyed, smoke and dust filled the air as they climbed over the rubble trying to get to the exit.

They stepped out into chaos raining around them. Tie Fighters flew overhead shooting down ships that were trying to flee.

Han ran off ahead with Chewie shooting any stormtrooper insight

“Come on Chewie!” The Wookie roared in answer.

Maz had a face like thunder, her life's work ruined, her home gone. She turned to Finn.

But before she could speak Poe yelled, “Where's my droid?!”

“He went after Rey,” Maz said as Poe sighed in relief “Go! Both of you, Rey and BB-8 need you”

“I need a weapon!” Finn screamed.

Maz grabbed for his wrist holding the saber into the air.

“You have one!”

He stared at the saber in his hand, he ignited the heat of blue glow burning his eyes.

Poe followed behind Finn as he ran into the fighting. He surprised one trooper stabbing him straight through the chest.

Poe was quick to pick up the fallen trooper's weapon and sped off towards the forest. He began firing at troopers in his way. He hadn't gotten too far away before he heard a trooper shout of “Traitor” behind him.

He turned and saw a trooper in front of Finn. The trooper threw his blaster and shield aside and brandished an electrified mace. The trooper ran at Finn and they began striking at each other.

It was obvious to Poe that the trooper was clearly more experienced. Finn was only just able to block the blows against him.

Poe tried to return to Finn but was blocked by oncoming troopers he fired at them while trying to keep Finn insight. Finn had gotten the advantage for a second, smashing the saber into the trooper's mace and pushed him down. But the trooper smacked him in the face, almost sending him flying.

Poe was still blocked from getting to Finn by three troopers, he'd hide behind some wreckage when from behind him. Three shots fired above his head. It was Han and Chewie, Poe breathed a sigh of relief as he sprang to his feet. The troopers he was fighting were all laying on the ground.

Poe turned in the direction he'd last seen Finn and his breath caught in his lungs as he saw lying on the ground and the trooper standing over Fin ready to strike. Poe raced forward, he fired and the trooper fell backwards onto the ground.

Poe pulled Finn to his feet, as Han and Chewie came to them.

“You boys ok?”

“Yeah, thanks,” they said together.

“Don't Move!” someone said as they were surrounded by troopers their blasters aimed at them. “TK-338, we have targets in custody”

They pulled their weapons out of their hands and forced them to put their hands on their heads.

They walked single file towards a prisoner transport when a distance roar caught their captors attention

“We have incoming at two-eight-point six! Move! Dispatch! Move! Scramble all squads! Repeat, scramble all squads! Anti-air cover en route to our position!” said the troopers as they spread out, too concentrated on their new targets to remember their captives.

“It's the Resistance,” Han said as they all lowered their hands from their heads. Poe smiled excitedly.

X-Wings flew over the lake, water spraying underneath them. TIE Fighters met them and started firing, but they were shot down almost immediately.

Stormtroopers were shot down and the gang were quick to pick up their weapons

“Quick!” Han said.

They all started firing at the oncoming troopers, as two X-Wings flew through the chaos shooting down every TIE insight.

Poe looked on proudly as he cheered “That's my team!”

Finn was cheering along with him.

The troopers began to retreat. Poe and Finn were chasing after them when they saw Kylo Ren stalking away with Rey in his arms. They both looked on in shock.

“No!” Finn screamed as he sprinted ahead in a futile attempt to rescue his friend. Finn stumbled to a halt as Poe breathed heavily, catching up to him.

“Rey!” Finn screamed again. Poe held Finn in his arms “We shouldn't have left her alone”

“We'll get her back, I promise,” Poe said reassuringly. A Resistance ship flew overhead then. Poe watched it prepare to land. “Let's go find Han”

They ran through the debris. They met up with Han just as the ship landed.

“He took her! Did you see that? He took her, she's gone.” Finn said breathlessly.

Han looked over depressingly. “Yeah, I know” he headed off in the direction of the ship that just landed. Chewie growled something they couldn't understand before following Han.

Finn and Poe watched from a distance as the ship doors opened. Han put his hands on his hips and braced himself for whoever would appear.

“Oh this is gonna be interesting,” Poe said intrigued.

Resistance fighters came flooding out of the ship, All but one older woman who was frozen on the ramp. She smirked at Han and slowly approached him. Han's shoulders seemed to relax as they stared at each other.

But before they could even say two words to each other, a golden droid popped up out of nowhere. He started yammering away, not realizing he was interrupting a long-awaited reunion.

“Who is that?” Finn said looking over at the women.

“That's General Leia Organa and also Han's wife” Poe explained as the droid shuffled over towards them.

“Ah Commander Dameron, so good to see you alive,” said C3-PO in his robotic voice.

“Good to see you too 3-PO” the droid turned to look at Finn in a curious manner. Poe clapped Finn on the back as he said “C3-PO I'd like you to meet Finn. He saved me from the First Order and now he's chosen to join the resistance.”

“Oh excellent,” he said, then shuffling away with BB-8 following after him.

Poe looked back over to the General, she had a grim look on her face as she and Han continued to talk.

“We'll wait a bit longer and then go and talk to the General”

Finn nodded.

Soon after, Han slumped away towards the Falcon.

Poe eagerly walked to where the General stood.

“Poe...” she said relieved as she cupped his face in her hands, “We thought the worst after we heard about Jakku.”

“Oh I'm a lot harder to kill and you know it” he grinned.

Leia looked over curiously at Finn as Poe pushed him in front of General.

“General my name is Finn, I wish... I wish to join your cause. I helped Poe escape from the First Order. Not only to help him but so I could defect.”

Leia smiled at him warmly “So Incredibly brave of you, not many would have the courage that you have shown”

Finn couldn't help but think of his old team. Of FN-2003 who he'd watch die on Jakku, would he have fled with Finn given the chance? Or was he just as brainwashed as FN-2199 who'd called him a traitor and tried to kill him? Was he the only one trooper to flee? He'd never heard of any.

He shook the thoughts away, he needed to focus on something more important “Thank you, ma'am, but a friend of ours was taken prisoner”

“Han told me about the girl, I'm sorry,” Leia said

Poe gripped Finn's shoulder tightly, he knew they had to find a way to get to Rey but how?

“Finn's familiar with the weapon that destroyed the Hosnian System. He worked on the Base.” Poe told Leia stretching the truth.

“We're desperate for anything you can tell us”

“That's where our friend was taken. I've got to get there, fast.” Finn said urgently.

“And I will do everything I can to help, but first you must tell us all you know. We'll head back to base and get you debriefed as soon as possible”

All of the Resistance fighters were returning to their ship as Finn and Poe joined Han, Chewie and BB-8 aboard the falcon.

***

They reached D'Qar within the hour. In the cockpit of the falcon, Finn looked out to the planet as they jetted out of hyperspace.

It was a grim grassy planet surrounded by a dangerous asteroid field. Han flew the Falcon gracefully through the asteroid field and followed the other ships entering the planet's atmosphere.

They made a clunky landing onto the base. Finn and Poe ran to the ramp and ran out as soon as it wheezed open. The base was flooded with people, the two waded through the crowds.

BB-8 then came rolling off the Falcon and whizzed past Finn and Poe, making a beeline to where the X-Wings were lined up. He approached two women both with beautiful brown hair tied in matching ponytails.

They crouched down and spoke to the little droid and then turned to look at the boys.

“Poe!” They both screamed as they raced over to him and gave him a tight hug.

“Nice flying guys,” Poe said as they broke away from each other.

“We learnt from the best. Commander.” said the short of the two smirking.

Poe blushed as the two girls stared at a scared Finn.

“Who's your friend?” the other girl asked.

“Paige, Rose. I'd like you to meet Finn.”

“Picked up a friend along the way, Poe?” said Rose mischievously

“This man save my life and helped me complete my mission”

“Thank you Finn, for bringing our leader back to us,” Paige said seriously as her little sister snickered behind her.

“That must be the reason he's wearing your 'oh so precious' jacket” Rose teased.

“Rose...” Paige chastised but unable to stop herself from smiling slightly.

“What? Remember when I was freezing on Saqqar and he said 'deal with it!'”

Finn began to take off the jacket just to stop the teasing but Poe stopped him.

“Keep it. It suits you” he said biting his lip to keep from smiling too much.

Finn's stomach flipped at the way Poe was looking at him. But that thought would have to wait until later. There was something more important, Rey.

“We need to find Leia,” Finn said.

“She's down in the Hub,” Paige said.

Finn and Poe jogged away heading down some stairs to a bunker. It was loud and abuzz with activity. They saw Chewie getting assessed at the med bay and Leia who was talking with Tallie, Jess and Connix by the projection table.

“General! We're here” Poe said making his way over to the group.

“Good, Connix please take Finn with you. I want to know everything about that weapon as soon as possible.” Leia ordered as Connix led Finn away. “Tallie, Jess. Go get Paige and Rose. You all need to go get some rest, it won't be long before you're all out there again.”

“Yes, General,” The pair said, smiling at Poe as they walked away.

“Good job out there guys,” Poe said half heartedly as he watched Finn walk away. He turned to look back Poe worriedly, But Poe gave him a reassuring smile which seemed to comfort him.

Poe turned back to Leia as Finn went out of sight.

“Poe, you do have it don't you?”

He nodded as BB-8 bounced down the last step of the stairs and rolled towards them.

“Kept it safe with my little buddy”

C3-PO shuffled towards the little droid and BB-8 opened the compartment that contained the map.

He began to analyze the data inside. Just then Rose appeared next to him holding what seemed to be his piloting gear.

“Thought you might want to change considering we're gonna be heading out soon,” she said, handing him the clothes.

“Thanks,” he said slightly surprised.

“I'm glad you're ok,” She said as she walked away.

Poe quickly ducked into an empty room in the bunker and changed out of his clothes which were covered in sand and torn up around the arms. He couldn’t believe how much he'd been through in one day. He really needed to rest but unfortunately, there was no time for that.

He stepped back out into the main hub and found a group of people surrounding the projection table, including Leia, Han and 3-PO

“General, I regret to inform you, but this map recovered from BB-8 is only partially complete. And even worse, it matches no charted system on record. We simply do not have enough information to locate Master Luke.” the tall droid said as they all stared at the map.

“I can't believe I was so foolish to think that I could just find Luke and bring him home,” Leia said sadly.

“Leia...” Han said.

“Don't do that,” she said as she turned away.

“Do what?”

“Anything”

Poe watched as she walked away, seemingly not caring which direction she was going.

“Princesses” C3-PO said to Han before he followed her across the room.

“I'm trying to be helpful!”

“When did that ever help?” he was about to reply, but before he could she said “And don't say the Death Star”

Sighing he continued to follow after her, she stood in a quiet area surrounded by containers. Han watched sadly as Leia stared blankly at some equipment in front of her. He knew nothing he could say would change anything, but he had to try.

“Listen to me, will you?” She turned to look at him. “I know every time you... every time you look at me, you're reminded of him.”

“You think I want to forget him? I want him back!”

They looked mournfully at each other

“There was nothing we could've done,” he said struggling to continue “There was too much Vader in him”

“That's why I wanted him to train with Luke. I just never should have sent him away. That's when I lost him.” She paused “That's when I lost you both.”

“We both had to deal with it in our own way. I went back to the only thing I was ever good at.”

“We both did.” She smiled

“We lost our son, forever.”

“No... It was Snoke.” Han looked confusedly at her “He seduced our son to the dark side. But we can still save him. Me. You.”

“If Luke couldn't reach him, how could I?”

“Luke is a Jedi... you're his father. There's still light in him. I know it.” she said confidently.

Their conversation was cut short as someone approached them.

“General, the reconnaissance report on the enemy base is coming.”

Leia walked away giving Han one more knowing glance.

Unbeknownst to the pair, Poe had crept behind the containers, Leia and Han had been talking near. He listened to their conversation too curious to stop and from what he'd heard he could not believe his ear. From what he could understand Ben Solo their son was Kylo Ren, the man who had tortured him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading xx


	8. Difficult Interrogations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to my amazing besties, who never stop believing in me.

Chapter 8 – Difficult Interrogations

The journey to Starkiller Base was mercifully short. Ren was glad of this. He sensed he was getting some curious stares from the troopers and officers, as he brought the girl on board his star destroyer.

He carried her through the halls walking down to the holding cells. He laid her down on the bench in the cell. He stepped back and lent against the wall, he didn't expect her to wake up anytime soon but had brought them there as a precaution.

This girl was different than any other person he'd ever met. He couldn't stop himself from gazing at her, as he continued to look down at her it made him feel as if he was drowning. But it was like he sank into a serenity so perfect he couldn't feel the pains that constantly haunted him.

Curiosity sparked in him then, he exited the room and walked down the hallway. A sinking feeling enveloped him as he walked away. The peacefulness he'd felt faded away as he pulled away from whatever attached him to this girl.

He returned to the room quickly and closed his eyes and leant against the door. He basked in the comfort the girl's presence caused in him. _'The connection between them was remarkable'_ he thought to himself. _'The force had to be behind it, he had no doubt, but why?'_

But there was no more time to ponder those questions, they'd reached Starkiller base. He gently picked her up again. She was light in his arms as he carried her onto the shuttle once more and then down through the base to the interrogation room.

Once inside he set her down in the chair in the middle of the room and engaged to restraint. He crouched in front of her waiting for her to wake.

He didn't have to wait long before she started awake. She bounced against her restraints and looked fearful as she saw him crouching before her.

“Where am I?” she said, he smirked under his mask. He wished to give a clever response but all he could come up with was,

“You're my guest”

“Where are the others?” she demanded

“You mean the murderers, traitors and thieves you call friends?” The tension in the air was palpable. Ren felt his hands begin to sweat under his gloves as he heard the girl's breath catch in her throat. “You'll be relieved to hear that I have no idea.”

And she was, it fascinated him, he was able to sense all of her emotions without even really trying. He felt her go from relief, quickly to fear and then rage that built up inside her.

“You still want to kill me,” he stated.

“That happens when you're being hunted by a creature in a mask.”

He considered her for a moment. 'A creature in a mask' is that what she supposed he was. He stood up and removed his mask, revealing his face and gauged her reaction.

Her lips parted as she held a stunned expression. He approached her confidently, her face was defiant but she still recoiled from him reflexively.

“Tell me about the droid”

“He's a BB unit with a selenium drive and thermal hyperscan vindicator,” she said quickly.

His mask of composure almost slipped as a slight smile graced his face at her pedantic answer.

“He's carrying a section of a navigational chart. We have the rest, recovered from archives of the Empire. We need the last piece. And somehow, you convinced the droid to show it to you. You... A scavenger”

He was frustrated as she continued to stay silent. He didn't want to enter her mind, he knew the pain it could cause but this was his mission. He needed that map.

“You know I can take whatever I want.”

There was a look of dread on her face. But he still moved closer to her and raised his hand nearly touching her face. He couldn't see anything within her mind this time. She was somehow blocking him out. He could, however, feel her heightened emotions.

“You're so lonely,” he told her. He sensed her needed to go back to Jakku, her longing to be found. “So afraid to leave”

Tears began rolling down her cheeks. He suspected he'd gone too far as he felt the wall between them break down. He confirmed his suspicions as he felt his stomach clench. He'd seen his father's face once more, moreover he'd felt the connection that had already formed between the pair.

He moved away and stalked around her chair as he spoke “Han Solo. You feel like he's the father you never had.” He came around to the other side of the chair and leaned close to her and whispered, “He would've disappointed you”

She was trembling and spoke through gritted teeth “Get out of my head!”

The force of the girl's anger made him pull away from her. He came around to face her again, his hand outstretched.

“I know you've seen the map. It's in there. And now you'll give it to me.” he said as he entered her mind once more.

Rey shook the power of trying to force him out of her head. A ripple of energy flowed between them, neither could decipher the meaning behind it. They both gasped.

“Don't be afraid, I feel it too,” he said with a strange urge to comfort her.

“I'm not giving you anything”

“We'll see,” he said softly.

A silent war raged between them as energy pulsed back and forth as they both fought for control over the other. Ren persisted in his effort to enter her mind but all he saw was blackness.

She strained against the bonds holding her, rising out of the chair slightly. She was vibrating with the energy of trying to block him out.

Ren put all his concentration into seeing something but somehow this girl, who came from nowhere was resisting him. He knew she must be strong with the Force, so powerful that she was able to use the Force innately.

His patience waning and now desperate for answers, he relaxed his grasp on her mind, thinking that if he did maybe she would lower her guard.

And it did, he closed his eyes focusing on any weak point. He took his chance as he saw a faint white light in the darkness of her mind. He zoomed through the white light but it wasn't the map he was looking for, but a picturesque haven.

“Ah, I see the island, the ocean. Is this where to go to escape, when you're afraid?”

She didn't answer his question but spoke to him in a cool harsh voice.

“You. You're afraid. That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader.”

He jumped back in surprise, retracting his hand as though it had been burnt. He'd relaxed too much in her presence and she had gained entry to his mind. And then found a deep fear within him.

He stumbled further away as Rey looked on shocked at what she had done. He didn't say another word to her, he simply backed away and fled the room and found a trooper waiting outside the room.

“I want a guard in that room at all times” He ordered and then sped away down the hall.

He was making his way up to the bridge when he found the person he was looking for.

Hux was walking towards him bitterly.

“General, I need to speak with the Supreme Leader urgently”

“As a matter of fact, that's why I'm down here. The Supreme Leader has requested a meeting with you” Hux said coldly.

Ren rushed away, leaving Hux behind without a second thought.

When the door to the audience chamber opened he found Snoke already waiting for him, a  
hologram hand tightly clutching the throne.

The walk to the throne was a daunting one. Snoke knew about the girl, did he sense the girl was resisting him or was it something more? Their connection possibly?

“Kylo Ren, is the map to Skywalker now in your possession?” Snoke asked

“Master, in my attempt to retrieve the map. I came across a scavenger. The droid showed this girl the map and is now preserved in her memory.”

“And...” He growled interestedly

“When I attempted to acquire the map from inside her mind. She... she was able to block me out of her head.”

“The scavenger, resisted you!” Snoke roared.

“She is strong with the Force, untrained but, stronger than she knows,” he shouted back.

“And the droid?”

Ren hesitated, looking at the ground in embarrassment before he could answer his master. Hux entered, finally catching up after Ren had left him behind.

“Ren believed it was no longer valuable to us, that the girl was all we needed,” he said smugly climbing the steps to stand just behind Ren. “As a result, the droid has most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already.”

Snoke was visibly rattled by this news “Then the resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker”

“We have their location. We tracked their reconnaissance ship to the Ileenium system”

“Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon. And contact the knights, send them to me immediately” Snoke said pleased. Hux began to walk away, an evil glint in his eye.

It was a struggle for Ren to keep his composure. More planet-killing. If only he'd been able to get the map from the girl, he knew his training wasn't complete but maybe with his master's assistance he would be able to.

“Supreme Leader. I can get the map from the girl I just need your guidance”

Snoke considered him for a moment, while the doors to the chamber opened and closed signalling Hux's departure.

“If what you say about this girl is true, bring her to me” Ren was disappointed his master obviously didn't think him capable of completing his mission.

“My young apprentice before you leave. We must speak of how you may finally complete your training. I can sense that your father will attempt to rescue the girl. I have no doubt that you will have to face him once more.”

“I understand, I too have sensed a confrontation coming,” Ren said trying to hide the sadness in his voice.

“Solo will try to manipulate you, try to get your guard down. Be warned, he will destroy you. Trust your feelings my boy and you shall be able to complete your training”

“I know what I have to do” But could he do it, he thought.

“Prove to me that you will become the man I always knew you capable of being,” Snoke said before his hologram faded.

***

Rey struggled against her restraints, she had to get out of there before Kylo came back. She had truly shocked herself, she entered his mind for just a few seconds and had seen so much.

In that moment when he had tried to probe her mind for the map, it was as though their minds were bridged and she saw memories that were not her own.

A small black-haired boy reflected in the windshield of the Millennium Falcon bouncing up and down in his seat with excitement. And next to him Han... a much younger Han but unmistakably Han.

Next, she was staring down at a much larger hand than her own. A gem glowing red inside it looked as though it was bleeding.

 _“What is your name?”_ someone growled.

_“Kylo Ren!”_

The memory changed once more she was sat across from a charred helmet, a strange mechanical breathing coming from it.

_“Help me, grandfather...”_

She sensed Kylo's fear and without really knowing how, she had scared him by telling him his greatest fear.

The word escaped her lips before she understood what she was saying. She'd heard of Darth Vader before he was the former Jedi turned Sith lord. But until she said it out loud she hadn't even realized she'd known it.

And there was no mistaking what she had seen, the mysterious Kylo Ren. The second in command of the First Order was Ben Solo, Han's missing son.

He had fled the room quickly obviously shaken, leaving her alone desperately trying to escape her bonds. It soon became obvious she couldn't break free through force, but maybe she could use The Force.

Maz had told her back on Takodana that she sensed Rey's power, no better time than now to try she thought.

She stretched her fingers wide, willing something to happen. But the restraints stayed firmly in place, she huffed in frustration.

From behind her, Rey heard the sound of static and then people talking. There was a trooper behind her and that's when another idea occurred to her.

“You will remove these restraints. And leave this cell with the door open” she said nervously hoping against hope that it would work.

“What did you say?” the trooper said.

“You will remove these restraints. And leave this cell with the door open” she said again hoping there was more conviction in her voice. She heard footsteps behind her and then the trooper appeared on her right.

“I'll tighten those restraints scavenger scum,” he said.

She stared at him intently, took a deep breath and a wave of calm flooded over her. She once again repeated her command “You will remove these restraints. And leave this cell with the door open.”

The trooper stood up straighter “I will remove these restraints. And leave this cell with the door open”

He released the restraints from around her wrists and ankles. He turned away from her and opened the door. And in a trance-like state, he began to leave. A thought popped into Rey's head as she rubbed her sore wrists.

“And you'll drop your weapon” she blurted out.

“And I'll drop my weapon,” he said as she heard his weapon clattered to the floor and then he ambled away down the hall.

Rey launched herself out of the chair and picked the weapon up off the floor, before running out of the room and heading in the opposite direction to the trooper.

***

Ren strode through the base heading straight for the interrogation room Rey was being held in. After his meeting with Snoke, he knew it was imperative that she was brought to Snoke as soon as possible.

If Han Solo was truly on his way, there was no telling what would happen if he did try to rescue the girl. Anger boiled in him, his own father seemed to care more about this girl then he did his own son.

He wondered what would happen to the girl after he'd brought her to Snoke. Would he take what he needed and kill her. Maybe he could convince Snoke to spare her, with her power she could be a valuable asset to the dark side with a little training. And perhaps he could be the one to teach her.

He turned the corner to where she was being held and was incensed to see the cell's door open and the guard nowhere to be seen. He entered the cell and found the chair where the girl should have been empty. He circled around the chair and ignited his saber.

He slashed the chair to pieces in his fury and screamed “No, No. No!”

She was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really appreciate everyone commenting, liking and subscribing xx


	9. Separate Missions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my besties, constantly amazing people who never give up

Chapter 9 – Separate Missions

The hub was packed as it seemed the whole of the resistance had gathered around the briefing table. Poe, Finn and Han were at the front with Leia and all of their other leadership.

“The scan data from Snap's reconnaissance flight confirms Finn's report,” Poe said, gesturing for Snap to continue.

“They've somehow created a hyper lightspeed weapon built within the planet itself” Snap explained.

“A laser cannon?” Brance suggested.

“We're not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale,” said Snap

“It's another Death Star,” said Major Ematt distressed.

“I wish that were the case, Major. This was the Death Star.” Poe said as he pulled up the hologram of the satellite station. Then he pulled up another hologram that dwarfed the first. “And this is Starkiller Base”

The whole room let out a collective gasp of horror.

“So it's big,” Han said

“How is it possible to power a weapon of that size?” Admiral Ackbar asked.

“It uses the power of the sun. As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears” Finn said

An officer approached Leia handing her a data card, she stared down at it morosely.

“The First Order, they’re charging the weapon again, now. Our system is the next target.”

The room stirred with anxiety once more at the news.

“Oh my. Without the Republic fleet, we're doomed” C3-PO said nervously.

Poe sighed, if everyone wasn't already stressed enough without 3-PO mentioning that.

“Okay, how do we blow it up? There's always a way to do that” Han said as all eyes turned on him.

“Han's right,” Leia said, breaking the silence that fell over the room. Han looked towards Leia in shock.

Then Admiral Statura spoke up “In order for that amount of power to be contained, that base would need some kind of thermal oscillator.”

“There is one,” Finn said moving around to where Poe stood, placing a hand on Poe's back and pointing up at the hologram “Precinct 47. Here.”

“If we can destroy that oscillator, it might destabilize the core and cripple the weapon.” the admiral said.

“Maybe the planet?” Ematt asked.

“We'll go in there and we'll hit that oscillator with everything we got,” Poe said staring at his team with confidence, as they all stood behind Snap. Rose looked straight at Poe and gave him a determined nod.

“They have defensive shields that our ships cannot penetrate,” Ackbar said.

“We disable the shields,” Han said matter-of-factly, then he turned to Finn “Kid, you worked there, what do you got?”

“I can do it,” Finn said unflinchingly.

“I like this guy” Han smiled.

“I can disable the shields. But I have to be there, on the planet.”

“We'll get you there,” Han said confidently.

“Han, how?” Leia asked.

“If I told you, you wouldn't like it,” he said as she looked at him suspiciously.

“So we disable the shields, take out the oscillator and we blow up their big gun.” Poe said as Chewie roared in agreement “All right. Let's go!”

The crowd dispersed quickly, Poe was the only one left behind. His eyes followed Leia and Han as they left together talking in hushed tones. Things had been moving too fast for him to comprehend what he had heard earlier.

He felt betrayed, Leia had been a constant figure in his life ever since his mother had passed away. He trusted her implicitly and he thought she felt the same. How could she keep something so significant from him? There was still no time to speak of it though, but soon he would.

***

Finn was walking across the base, he'd been to the armory first to pick up a weapon. Then he started making his way to the Falcon, a massive blaster slung over his shoulder. As he walked through the chaos of everyone preparing for battle. He found Poe doing the final checks on his X-Wing. He saw Finn and came over to hug him in a vise-like grip.

“You're going after her, aren't you?” Poe said, his words muffled as he pressed his face into Finn's shoulder.

“I can't abandon her”

“I understand. I know she's your top priority on this mission, but I'm counting on you too. I need you to get those shields down. And then I can handle it from there and you can go rescue our girl.” Poe said

“I'll find her, just stay safe okay?”

“Me. Always,” He said jokingly

They broke apart and smiled at each other. With one more glance, they parted each on their separate missions.

When Finn reached the Falcon, Chewie was busy preparing the ship for take off. Although he couldn't understand the Wookie, he set him to work putting some balls that were in a box in front of him onto the belts that Chewie handed him.

Han came down the ramp of the ship and yelled at Chewie to check something while he was looking at a control panel. Han looked over at Finn as he was sliding the balls down, they clanked together as they fell onto the belt.

“Finn, be careful with those, they're explosives!”

“Now you tell me?” He said gingerly picking up the next one.

“You know, no matter how much we fought, I've always hated watching you leave,” Leia had come up behind Han without him noticing. Finn had stopped what he was doing to look over. Han turned around smirking.

“That's why I did it. So you'd miss me.” Han said playfully.

The pair moved further away from Finn and spoke in hushed voices. He watched them surreptitiously as he continued his job.

Finn couldn't believe his eyes when he looked up and saw Han with such a pure bright smile on his face. He had never been in love himself, life in the First Order didn't leave much room for dating opportunities. But it could only be for Leia that Han smiled like that, just from the way they looked at each other he knew that that was what love was meant to be.

Han cradled Leia in his arms, he looked worried. Saying goodbye could never be easy, especially with ones they loved most. Finn wondered if it was possible for him. When the war was over and the fighting was done, could he find something like the pair he was staring at had.

The pair parted, Finn's eyes followed Leia as she walked away. It was then that he caught a glimpse of Poe hopping into his X-Wing chatting animatedly with BB-8. He smiled to himself, maybe...

***

Less than an hour later, Han, Chewie and Finn were flying the Falcon through hyperspace. Han was preparing for them to reach the base when Finn walked into the cockpit. He was curious about how they would be getting through the shields so he asked,

“How are we getting in?”

“Their shields have a fractional refresh rate. Keeps anything traveling slower than lightspeed from getting through” Han said

Finn's stomach dropped at that news, no way could that be safe.

“We're gonna make our landing approach at lightspeed,” Finn said as he sat down in his seat securing himself in it as best as he could.

Chewie growled understanding Finn's discomfort with the plan.

“Alright Chewie, get ready,” Han said ignoring the pair. He readied himself to disengage the hyperdrive “And Now!”

They were pulled out of lightspeed and they found themselves heading straight for a rock face. Han's eyes went wide, Chewie roared and Finn went cold.

“I am pulling up!” Han shouted yanking the controls with all his might.

They barely made it over, skating just above the clifftop. That's when they plowed into a thick forest, tree branches and leaves crashing into them.

Chewie roared once again.

“I get any higher, they'll see us” he yelled.

When they dove out of the trees, they ended up slamming down into the snow and skidding along the ground winding up at the edge of another cliff.

The trio breathed a sigh of relief when they finally stopped. Finn had been clinging to his seat for dear life, only then did he sag back into his seat almost falling out of it in the process.

Once they had gathered their bearings, they prepared themselves to go out into the snow. Han put on a giant parka and stepped outside the Falcon while Chewie grumbled, apparently he didn't think his fur was a good alternative to a coat.

They trudged through the snow trying to go as fast as possible, although it was difficult with the cold wind and constant snowfall.

When they reached the base, they hid behind one of the smaller installations preparing to make their assault.

“The flooding tunnels are over that ridge,” Finn said pointing it out to the others “We'll get in that way”

“What was your job when you were based here?” Han asked

“Sanitation”

“Sanitation!” Han said angrily grabbing Finn roughly by the neck of his jacket and shoving him into the wall. “Then how do you know how to disable the shields?”

“I don't.” he confessed “I came here to help Rey, but we can work it. We'll use the Force!”

“That's not how the Force works!” Han scolded. “People are counting on us! The galaxy is counting on us!” Chewie was moaning uncomfortably. “Oh really, you're cold?”

Finn moved away from the wall and started making his way towards the base, the other two following along behind. He stared up at the sky and saw the laser draining the sun, they didn't have long, he thought.

Han sighed as he continued to follow Finn, he understood being loyal to a friend but now was not the time. Even so, how could he judge, he had after all rescued Leia for the first time when he hadn't even known her. Although the reward in that circumstance had also been an incentive.

And still when Luke and Leia were fighting the Empire. When Luke destroyed the Death Star, he hadn't wanted to go back but without understanding why he'd gone back. He couldn't explain why really, it was a connection, a feeling... the stupid Force.

And as he stared at Finn he sensed the same kind of connection brewing between this new trio. They would probably never understand why they were brought together, but from the moment met they fate would join them forever.

They reached the flooding tunnel, it wasn't exactly a tight squeeze but Chewie had to bend down slightly as he walked. Nerves began to creep up on them as they walked through the dark tunnel, every drip of falling water or echoing footstep made their hair stand on end.

When they reached the end of the tunnel, they had to hoist themselves up through a small hatch above them. Finn hopped up easily, Han, on the other hand, climbed clumsily up because although he felt young at heart his back did not agree with him.

They crept through the hallway weapons at the ready. Finn opened the door at the end of the passageway and they found a stormtrooper right in front of them.

“Hey!” the trooper said but before he could do more, he was flung to the ground as Chewie shot him.

“The longer we're here, the less luck we're gonna have,” Han said slinging his coat to the ground while Chewie slid the trooper out of sight. “The shields?”

“I have an idea about that,” Finn said as he led the way.

They made their way to Finn's old barracks and hid in an alcove in the hallway just before it. A few troopers passed their hiding place but they went unnoticed.

They waited for what seemed like forever but was probably only a couple of minutes. Until Finn heard heavier steps than the others before. He peeked around the corner and saw the chrome uniform of his former captain.

He gestured to Chewie, who got ready to pounce. Just as she reached their hiding spot, Chewie sprang out and knocked her to the ground. He wrestled her weapon away from her and then stood her right in front of Finn, her arms pinned behind her by the Wookie.

“Remember me?” Finn asked.

“FN-2187” Phasma replied.

“Not anymore. The name's Finn and I'm in charge, I'm in charge now, Phasma. I'm in charge...”

“Bring it down kid, bring it down,” Han said patting Finn on the shoulder.

“Oh, follow me,” he said sheepishly walking away.

They led Phasma to one of the control terminals, shooting the guards outside and sitting her down at the main workstation inside.

“Right, you're gonna disable the shields around the base. Now!” Finn commanded.

“And why would I do that? She said mockingly.

“Because if you don't, I'm gonna blow that bucket right off your head.”

“You're making a big mistake,” she said as she began to type on the workstation in front of her.

“Lower the shields,” Finn said lowly as she began to deactivate the shields.

Han appeared then closing the door after dragging the unconscious guards inside the room. Finn walked over to him leaving Chewie to guard the captain.

“Han, if this works, we're not going to have a lot of time to find Rey”

“Don't worry kid, we won't leave here without her” Han smiled confidently.

Phasma stood up then as the screen behind her showed the shields going down.

“You can't be so stupid as to think this will be easy. My troops will storm this block and kill you all” she said cruelly

“I disagree,” Finn said walking up to Phasma and raising his weapon. “What do we do with her?”

“Is there a garbage chute? Trash compactor?” Han asked

Phasma turned her head to look at Han, even though her face was covered by her mask they could see was startled.

“Yeah there is...” he smirked.

***

Poe was sitting in his X-Wing, speeding through lightspeed with the rest of his team. His fingers twitched with anticipation as he waited anxiously for the order to proceed. Rose radioed to him then.

“Poe, we're running out of time. What's taking them so long”

“Be patient Rose, they'll make it, just give them a bit more time,” Poe said but truth be told, she was right he could only hope that Finn was ok.

Just then Base came over the radio, “Black leader, you are a go. On your call”

Poe breathed a sigh of relief, they'd done it. “Roger, base. Red squad, Blue squad take my lead” His teams acknowledged him.

“Dropping out of lightspeed,” Tallie said as the blue of hyperspace changed to the blackness of space, and then they came face to face with the enormous weapon.

Poe shook his head, it seemed like an impossible task but he had to keep his composure for the team at least.

They entered the planet's atmosphere flying over snow-covered mountain ranges.

“Almost in range! Hit the target dead center, as many runs as we can get” He said as he saw the oscillator right below him.

“Approaching target” Snap said

“Let's light it up,” Poe said as they all began to dive down, firing with everything they had.

“Direct hit” Rose cheered

“But no damage” Paige responded

“Yeah, we gotta keep hitting it! Remember, when that sun is gone, that weapon will be ready to fire. But as long as there's light, we got a chance” Poe said encouragingly.

B-88 beeped urgently and Poe looked to his right and saw around two dozen TIE fighters heading straight for them.

“Guys, we got a lot of company” He yelled turning his ship ready to take out as many TIE's as he could.

***

Finn and the others were sneaking around just outside one the hangers near the detention level

“We'll use the charges to blow that blast door. I'll go in and draw fire, but I'm gonna need cover” Finn whispered.

“You sure you're up for this?” Han asked

“Hell no... I'll go in and try to find Rey, the trooper will be on our tail. We have to be ready for that. There's an access tunnel that leads...” but before he could continue speaking he was distracted as Han was making a silly gesture with his chin while he stared over Finn's shoulder. “Why are you doing that? Why are you doing this? I'm trying to come up with a plan”

Han poked him on the shoulder with his weapon and then pointed to the hanger behind them. He turned around and walked towards what was unmistakably Rey climbing the opposite wall.

Finn chuckled grinning as he couldn't believe her resourcefulness even in the very heart of the First Order and she'd somehow managed to escape.

They quickly made their way around to the other side and began searching for her, being careful to watch for any wandering troopers.

They were about to turn a corner of one corridor when they bumped into Rey. She gasped and raised her weapon at them, probably expecting them to be stormtroopers but she looked even more shocked when she realized who it actually was.

Han was quick to put a hand on her weapon, lowering in from where it was pointed at their chests. “Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah” she answered frozen to the spot, still so surprised to see them all.

“Good,” Han said walking away to check their surroundings.

“What happened? Did he hurt you?” Finn asked.

“Finn, what are you doing here?”

“We came back for you”

Chewie grunted something then and Rey looked at him in surprise.

“What'd he say?” Finn inquired.

“That it wasn't part of the plan but you did it anyway.” She said enveloping in a tight hug. “Thank you”

Finn smiled into her shoulder as he enjoyed the moment with his friend but then curiosity took over and he whispered, “How did you get away?”

“I can't explain it. And you wouldn't believe it.”

They broke apart when Han came up behind them “Escape now. Hug later.” he said indicating they should follow him.

They made their way back the way they came as fast as possible. They reached the blast door they came through and closed the door behind them before, they headed back down into the flooding tunnels and then back out onto the snow-covered ground.

They were all looking up at the sky and saw a battle raging above them. They'd done their best to fill Rey in on everything that had happened since she'd been kidnapped but it didn't prepare for the sight of all the TIEs and X-Wings fighting above, seeing them explode and hurtle to the ground.

The sky was darkening and it was clear to Han they didn't have much time left.

“They're in trouble. We can't leave.” He said turning to look at the others “My friend here has a bag of explosives. Let's use 'em”

They all started to run while Han came up with a plan.

“Rey, Finn!” He yelled “You pair get the doors open, while me and Chewie set the charges. We'll meet you at the top of the oscillator in five minutes, okay?”

“Yeah,” they said Finn led Rey away heading for maintenance control while they ran, Finn couldn't help but look at the battle above, wondering where Poe was, hoping he was okay.

And then he saw one X-Wing breaking off and firing with extreme accuracy at four TIE fighters sending one down after the other.

Finn smiled somehow knowing exactly who that was.

“Oh, he's one hell of a pilot...” he said under his breath.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could resist putting that last line in 
> 
> Thanks for the support everyone xx


	10. Father and Son

Chapter 10 - Father and Son

Han and Chewie had made their way inside the oscillator. Going through a maintenance hatch and then finding their way to just outside the inner workings of the oscillator. They had to shoot a few troopers to get there and then they had to wait patiently as possible for the access hatches to open. Han smirked as the door slide open and they walked in.

“Girl knows her stuff” Han said to Chewie, he was increasingly impressed with the girl's skill.

When they reached the center of the cavernous cylinder, Han looked around surveying the area trying to come up with a plan on the spot.

“We'll set the charges at every other column.” But Chewie groaned something to Han. He nodded reconsidering his plan “You're right. That's a better idea. You take the top, I'll go down below.” He held up the detonator to Chewie “Detonator. We'll meet back here and then go find the others.”

He parted from Chewie, making his way down some stairs and began setting the charges on the walls, beams and floors.

They hadn't been there long when Han heard stormtroopers entering, he was careful to hide as they came past where he was setting the last of his charges. The troopers went further on, and then he heard more steps but not that of a trooper they were lighter, softer.

He snuck a glance around the nearest pillar and there was no mistaking him even cover in that ridiculous mask, it was Ben, his son, he was so close.

***

Ren's anger was reaching a boiling point. How could this day get any worse? He thought.

First, the girl went missing, practically disappeared into thin air was more like it. And then the Resistance had arrived intent on destroying the base, then finally he was alerted that someone had broken into the lower part of the oscillator.

He had no doubt that Han Solo was behind it before the strike had even begun. He had sensed the presence of the man and then they found the Millennium Falcon crash-landed on a cliffside. As soon as he had heard about the oscillator, he organized a team and went to search for them.

They entered the building and he gave the order to the troopers to find them. He hoped it was possible that they would find Han and not himself, lest Snoke's premonition would most likely come true.

His main objective would be the girl, he expected that somehow she would have found her way to Han and that meant she was probably close by.

He made his way around the giant chasm at the center of the oscillator, then he went down some stairs to the lower section. His pace slowed as he reached the bottom step, he felt the presence of his father once again.

It was the closest they'd been in many years. But he knew what would happen if they met so he turned to his left, away from his father and sped away as far as he could.

He started to cross a bridge across the chasm, hoping that it would put enough space between them and then he would send his troopers after him.

He thought he was home free when he was over halfway across the bridge but a shout came from the other side.

“Ben!” It echoed throughout the whole place. He froze and slowly turned around. From that moment on, there was no turning back.

“Han Solo. I've been waiting for this day for a long time.” His father was at the edge of the bridge. The anxiety in the room was palpable. Han stepped forward coming across the bridge.

“Take off that mask. You don't need it.” Han said

“What do you think you'll see if I do?”

“The face of my son.” He said stepping further forward.

Ren considered him for a moment and thought, why not humor the man. So he unclasped his mask and lifted it off his head.

With the mask off his face, he noticed a light coming through from above which was casting a red glow on his face. But his focus was solely on the man in front of him, Han's face was lit up with surprise, it was the first time he'd seen his son as a man.

“Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father. So I destroyed him”

“That's what Snoke wants you to believe but it's not true. My son is alive” he said getting even closer.

“No. The Supreme Leader is wise”

“Snoke is using you for your power. When he gets what he wants he'll crush you” he was stood right in front of his son then. “You know it's true”

Did he? After everything he'd done for Snoke, would he really just chew him up and spit him out when he got what he wanted. But he'd gone too far, that boy who wanted to make his father proud seemed like a distant memory.

“It's too late”

“No it's not, leave here with me. Come home. We miss you” Han pleaded

They missed him, could it be true? He wanted to believe so badly. He just couldn't believe his ears. He felt so confused like his loyalty to Snoke and his longing for the family he once had, were fighting a constant battle in his mind.

“I'm being torn apart” he cried. He wondered if accepting his father's help at that moment would free him from the darkness and the voices that plagued his mind. “I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?”

“Yes, anything,” he said, taking one step even closer.

It felt so easy to trust him, just hand over his lightsaber and let it all go. And so he dropped the mask in his hand and unclipped his saber from his belt and held it out to his father.

Han smiled and stretched out his hand and gripped the middle of the saber, while Ren held either end of it.

The moment both their hands were on the saber, an intense wave of emotion fell over Ren coming straight from his father.

Anger.

Fear.

Disappointment.

What little light from the sun was fading fast, soon his face was only illuminated by the harsh red glow from inside the oscillator.

He couldn't believe how stupid he'd been. He'd fallen straight into the trap Snoke had warned him about, his father had lulled him into a false sense of security and he'd almost given his weapon away. They were both gripping the saber tightly.

From that moment he understood how his father truly felt about him. It filled him with shame, the betrayal was such a horrible pain.

He just wished for it to stop.

That's when he twisted the saber and plunged it straight into his father's chest.

Screaming rang throughout the room, but they were all drowned out by the screaming ringing out inside Ren's whole body.

He looked at his father's pained face and for some reason, he said “Thank you.” And then pulled the saber from his chest.

Han reached his hand up to cup his son's face. He looked like he wanted to say something but then he fell backwards and off the side of the bridge, disappearing into the chasm below.

He let out a low gasp, it was over, he was gone. He wondered about how he should have felt in that moment. Snoke would have said he should feel relieved, truly on his way to become a master of the dark side. But he didn't, his whole body felt numb. His head felt thick and foggy as he stood on the bridge, broken and unsure of what to do next.

All of a sudden he heard an agonizing roar and then he felt a searing pain in his left side, someone had shot him. He collapsed into a kneeling position as blaster fire rained above him. And then to make matters worse the whole building began to explode.

He sensed a powerful energy above him then. He looked up and saw the girl with the traitor FN-2187 standing at the edge of a balcony right at the top of the building.

Ren stood up, doing his best to harnessing his power and focus on diverting his pain and then he trudge back along the bridge. He stared back up at the balcony but they had disappeared.

They would be heading back to the Falcon, he knew. Luckily for Ren, he knew a shortcut through the depths of the oscillator that would lead him out to near the cliffside the Falcon had landed on.

He limped forward dodging the fire and constant explosions around, down to a dark tunnel inside the base. As he walked further along the pain in his side began to subside and he was almost able to start walking normally again, albeit slower than normal.

His plan was simple he would find them, recapture the girl and deal with FN-2187 like he should have done in the first place.

Not long now, he thought, then it would be all over and done with.


	11. Into the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't believe we're nearly the end of part 1, its certainly been a journey 
> 
> Thanks once again to my besties, they give me courage everyday

Chapter 11 – Into the Woods

After the explosion at the oscillator and without Han or Chewie with them, Finn thought the best plan was to start making their way towards the Falcon. He helped Rey up onto a hill and led the way into a heavily wooded area.

“The Falcon's this way!” he said pointing in the direction they needed to go.

They'd ran a bit further when they were stopped in their tracks. Kylo Ren stood in front of them, he ignited his red lightsaber and held it by his side.

“We're not done yet,” He said coldly.

“You're a monster!” Rey said breathing heavily.

“It's just us now. Han Solo can’t save you” he taunted, then suddenly Ren punched his side and blood landed on the snow, seemingly trying to push back his pain.

Rey raised her blaster intending to fire at him. Before she could though, Ren lifted his hand and Rey was propelled into the air backwards. She screamed and then hit a tree and fell into the snow below.

“Rey! Rey!” Finn screamed dashing towards her. He cradled her unconscious body in his arms “Rey... Rey... oh no... no... no”

He heard the sound of Ren twirling his lightsaber behind him.

“Traitor!” Ren screamed.

Finn laid Rey gently back into the snow, his face like thunder as he took the lightsaber off his belt and ignited it.

Ren looked enraged when he saw the saber.

“That lightsaber. It belongs to me” he said pointing his weapon at Finn.

Finn was nervous, Ren would be a skilled opponent but because of his injury, maybe it would be a fairer fight.

He had to agree with Ren on one thing though, he was a traitor and he was proud of it.

“Come get it,” Finn said raising the saber higher and charging at Ren.

He easily deflected all of Finn's blows, swing after swing and then knocked him to the ground.

He turned away from Finn as he lay in the snow. Finn looked at him as Ren was punching himself in the side again. That seemed to have weakened him a bit.

Finn jumped back up and prepared to strike but Ren was too fast and dodged out of the way and Finn lurched forward. Ren turned and spun his around flamboyantly, in an attempt to intimidate him and it was working.

Finn stumbled back as Ren went on the offensive violently slashing at him until he was pressed against a tree. Both of their lightsabers were crossed and Finn was desperately trying to push the other saber away from his chest.

Ren then used the crossguard of the saber to cut into Finn's jacket.

Finn screamed in anguish as Ren pressed the blade deeper, burning straight down to the skin.

Ren pulled away and swung his saber down to slice into the man in front of him. But Finn had ducked out of the way, seconds before Ren ended up slicing into the tree that had been behind him.

Finn swung the saber and managed to hit Ren on the arm. Finn ran forward as Ren was faced away from him.

Ren turned just time to slam his lightsaber against Finn's. He looked furious, ready to kill.

He coiled his saber around Finn's and sent it flying away into the snow.

Before Finn could go after it, Ren smacked him in the face and sent him into a dizzy spin from the force of the smack.

He then felt an agonizing pain streak up his back and then everything went black.

***

Leia was slumped on a crate inside the hub, everyone around her was frantic but she couldn't help them when they needed her most. Her heart had broken in two.

She had always been so connected to Han, so much so that she almost fainted as she felt the horrendous pain of his death. But not only that, she felt Ben's pain, the fear and anger that came from killing his father.

It was unbearable from her and no doubt for Ben. Why had he done it, his own father? Snoke had gone too far, he'd twisted her boy into someone she couldn't recognize. He would pay for it, of that Leia was certain.

She heard a familiar voice that brought her out of her reverie then, coming from a headset in front of her. She put the headset on and heard the comms between the X-Wings, it was Poe.

“Another run team,” he said continuing to spur his team on.

“We just lost R-1!” Rose said. She was correct as Leia looked over to one of the monitors and saw R-1's light go off.

“We're overwhelmed! It isn't working, what do we do?” Jess asked worriedly.

Then Paige's voice came through the headset. “Black Leader, there's a brand new hole in that oscillator. Looks like our friends got in!”

“Red Four! Red Six! Cover us!” Poe said.

“I'm on it!” Tallie said

“Roger” Ello radioed

“Everybody else, hit the target hard! Give it everything you got!” Poe said and then all Leia could hear was static.

She tried to stop her knee shaking as she worried for Poe, he was such a reckless boy. He had always reminded her of Han, which stung at that moment, he would forever be taking unbelievable risks and somehow prevailing.

But she wasn't sure this time. The odds were really stacked against them and Han wasn't there to shout, never tell me the odds, to give her the courage she needed then.

Just then noise flooded the headset.

“I need some help here! I need some help!” Poe cried, they must be under a lot of heavy fire, Leia thought.

“I'm coming in!” Tallie called back

“Watch out!” Jess screamed

“I'm hit!” Ello said before the sound of an explosion and the silent.

Poe shouted over again then.

“All teams, I'm going in! Pull up and cover me”

Leia rolled her eyes, once again Poe was making a risky move and being the hero.

“Copy that Black Leader,” Snap said

“Good Luck Poe” Rose blurted out.

More silence through the headset and then static. All she could then was hope and wait for news.

***

Rey woke up dazed and confused. The ground beneath her was freezing and when she opened her eyes, her vision was blurry but she registered that she was lying in snow.

And then she heard a blood-curdling scream that made her remember how she ended her there.

She forced herself up onto her knees and looked over to her left, Finn and Kylo were fighting swinging lightsabers at each other.

Rey stood up her vision clearing, just as she saw Finn fall to the ground.

Kylo turned away from him and she saw him outstretch his hand reaching for something Rey couldn't see.

She walked forward, he didn't even notice her. He was entirely focused on what she then saw was a lightsaber buried in the snow, it was Luke's lightsaber. Finn must have brought it for Rey, she couldn't let Kylo get it.

So she mirrored his movements and she imagined the saber coming to her. Suddenly the saber shot out of the snow, almost hit Kylo in the face and then it landed straight into her hand.

She stood there bewildered as she looked at the saber. Maz was right about her power. She could feel it as she held the cool metal of the saber and felt energy pulsing between it and her fingers. It was outstanding.

Kylo, on the other hand, was looking at her aghast he seemed to be going through an array of emotions all to once.

She could sense everything, his shock, his fear, but mostly his anger. She raised the saber higher and ignited it as Kylo looked at her almost in wonder and then he twirled his own saber and prepared to fight.

Rey had been trembling from the moment she woke up and not just from the cold but because of the fight, she knew she was about to face. But as the time was now upon her she was no longer afraid. Somehow she was ready.

She lunged forward and began to strike the lightsaber angrily at Kylo. He blocked her far too easily, she swung again but he dodged and she sliced through a tree which then proceeded to fall down.

They swung at each other again and again, numerous trees being brought down in the process. She could feel the anger from Kylo, it radiated off of him, enveloped him.

She stepped back a few paces and turned to run, Kylo close on her tail. He struck his saber several times at her and she managed to block them in time.

They were surrounded by large rock surfaces which Rey jumped onto easily, getting out of his reach as he grunted in frustration.

She tucked and rolled over to the other side of rocks and tried to run off. She knew there was no way to beat him, it was impossible. She wanted to run away, find Chewie and Finn and leave the planet forever.

But Kylo was still chasing after her, she blocked another swing and tried to attack him again but only managed to break another tree. Everything began to blur together, every swing, every block, would it ever end.

Then all of a sudden, the forest around them began to crumble and the earth behind them was swallowing itself up.

Kylo didn't seem to care at all though. He kept thrusting his saber at her until she was at the edge of a cliff that hadn't been there before. She tried to push back but that only gave him the chance to lock their sabers together and push her further back, so she was almost leaning off the cliff.

Sweat was pouring down both their faces from the heat of the lightsabers. Rey yelped as she felt like she was about to fall.

“You need a teacher! I can show you the ways of the force.” he pleaded.

“The Force” she whispered staring into his solid black eyes.

She remembered what Maz had said 'Close your eyes. Feel it. The light.' and when she did she felt more power than she had ever felt in her entire life. It focused her, gave her strength and when she opened her eyes defeating him longer seemed impossible.

At once she was able to unlock herself from his grasp and swung at him more ferociously than before. To the point where she saw Kylo's confidence seemed to falter. She struck several more merciless blows and managed to hit his leg and cut the bottom of his cape. He cried out in pain and fell to one knee.

He stood up weakly and tried a feeble swing at Rey, which she didn't even need to dodge. She lunged forward and burnt Kylo's shoulder. That made him retreat from her. She followed after him and lifted the saber above her head. He blocked her strike but that gave her the chance to kick him in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

She stalked around him, hoping he would surrender but he pulled himself up once again. He swung at her and made a grab for her saber, at the same time she grabbed his. They tussled as he tried to pull the saber from her fingers, stretching it up to the sky. As Rey desperately tried to hold onto it while she pushed his saber into the snow pouring steam up from where the snow and saber connected.

She managed to pull the saber out of his grasp and hit his arm so he dropped his saber and then she slashed upwards and sliced from his shoulder all the way up to his forehead. He fell once more in the snow as Rey stood above him triumphant.

He sat up and looked at her in awe, she couldn't believe any more than he did that she had defeated him.

Abruptly the ground began to quake and the earth beneath her shifted, creating a chasm between herself and Kylo. She looked him in the eyes as the adrenaline left her body and she saw the horrid gash she had marked his face with.

She deactivated the saber and shook with fear as she realized what she had done. She turned and ran back the way she had come, back to Finn. Trying not to think of the way the anger coursed through her as the force awoke inside her.

She found her way back to where she started and found Finn lying on his front not moving. She dropped into the snow next to him letting go of the saber in her hand, not caring that her legs were burning from how cold it was.

“Finn! Finn...” she called out but he didn't stir.

She turned him over hoping he would wake up but he remained unconscious. She could almost feel his life slipping away as tears fell down her face.

Finn had come to save her, no one else had ever done that before. And without a sign of rescue and with him being too heavy for her to carry, it looked like they were doomed to die on the collapsing planet. She buried her face in Finn's chest sobbing.

Then miraculously a bright light appeared illuminated her surroundings as she heard the sound of an engine and the crashing of trees in front of her.

She looked up and saw the Falcon rising up, the searchlights were on, looking for them.

She stared into the cockpit and saw Chewie sitting inside. She breathed a sigh of relief as they locked eyes.

Chewie was quick to land the ship and run down to find Rey.

“Chewie, Finn's in trouble. He was fighting... and he got hurt.” she cried scared to tell Chewie what Kylo had done.

Chewie knelt down and picked Finn up while Rey grabbed the saber from the ground. They jogged over to the Falcon, Chewie headed up the ramp but Rey looked back. She had the strangest feeling that she was missing something, but she had the lightsaber with her and there was nothing else to remember. But still, she felt like she was forgetting something.

She knew they didn't have long before the planet would explode. So she turned away and ran into the ship.

Rey saw that Finn had been placed on the bed in the lounge as she went to the cockpit to help Chewie get them off that godforsaken planet, praying that the hell they'd been through would finally be over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and comment and to anyone who reads this xx


	12. Moving Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of Part 1, so excited to show you all Part 2

Chapter 12 – Moving Forward

Poe rushed headlong out of the burning oscillator. His job was done and he was extremely eager to get himself and his team away from the planet that was about to explode into a million pieces.

“This place is gonna blow any second! Let's evacuate team”

“Copy that Poe,” Rose said but she sounded worried “Any sign of the Falcon?”

“Negative” Poe said “Don't worry Rose, they'll make it out in time”

He hoped...

They had only just managed to get out of the planet's atmosphere before it turned into a glowing ball of fire. It sent waves of heat pouring over the ships as they made their escape. Poe was sweating profusely, as he and his team increased their speed trying to get away from the red and orange glow that was intent on burning them to dust.

Just then he noticed a large shadow zooming overhead, he looked up and flying above him was the Falcon.

“All teams! I got eyes on them” he smiled as he heard a smattering of cheers come through the intercom and he grinned hearing Rose loudest of all.

Then he called through the intercom one last time. "Our job's done here. Let's go home”

And with that, they all disappeared into hyperspace as Poe smirked victoriously, happy to have left the First Order in ruins.

It was chaotic from the moment they landed on D'Qar. Everyone was celebrating and reuniting with their loved ones. People kept on approaching Poe, congratulating him on his success.

But at that moment he only wanted to find Finn, he was almost certain Finn had found Rey. Neither Han nor Finn would have left her behind.

He pushed himself through the crowds being patted on the back numerous times as he made his way to where the Falcon had landed.

The ramp of the ship came down but no one came out. He raced inside and found Rey in the entranceway. He went straight to her and wrapped his arms around her tightly.

“Oh I'm so glad you're okay,” he said relieved. But quickly he broke the hug and he stared at her in confusion. She hadn't returned his hug and the look on her face was miserable. “What's wrong? Where's... Finn!”

He screamed the final word as Chewie came round the corner holding an unconscious Finn in his arms.

“He was injured trying to protect me,” Rey said trying to hold back tears.

Poe grabbed his communicator quickly from his pocket. “I need a medic to the Falcon, now”

“On our way” someone replied through the communicator.

It only just occurred to him then that someone was missing.

“Han!” he yelled expecting him to come round the corner any second. He looked over at Rey, tears had filled her eyes as she looked at him and shook her head.

Chewie moaned as he pushed past Poe and Rey, heading for the exit.

“Approaching the Falcon” came the same voice from the communicator as they all made their way down the ramp. Poe's mind whirred as he tried to comprehend all that had been said on the Falcon.

The medic truck was pulling up as Poe and Rey left the ship, Chewie laid Finn on his side as the medics checked him over. That's when Poe noticed Finn's injury, there was a massive slash burnt along his back. There was no mistaking what had made that mark.

Poe grabbed the top of Rey's arm, she turned to look at him.

“Ren did this to Finn didn't he” he didn't need an answer though, the look of dread on her face was all the answer he needed.

“We've got a heartbeat,” the medic said and then they moved off taking Finn to the infirmary.

Poe followed after them too incensed to think of anything other than the fact that Ren had attacked Finn, even to realize that Rey hadn't moved.

***

Rey was outside of the Falcon feeling like a stranger in her own body as she stood there all alone. There were crowds of people in front of her, cheering and celebrating but still, an awful loneliness consumed her.

She felt like an outsider looking in at all the happiness around her. Not only that but it was like she just noticed there was a gaping hole inside her. It felt like it had always been there but only then did she recognize that it was there.

She dazedly watched Chewie meander away when an older woman approached him. He gave a small whimper as the woman raised the hand and placed it soothingly on the side of his head.

Rey watched them, seeing the shared moment of grief they both seemed to be experiencing. This woman speaking with Chewie could only be Princess Leia, Rey thought. No one else would be able to understand Wookie's loss like Han's wife.

Rey had barely finished thinking it when the woman turned to look at her, a curious recognition in her eyes.

She said a few final words to Chewie and then cautiously walked over to Rey. A strange feeling washed over her as the woman grew closer, at the same time Rey crept forward also closing the gap between them.

She wasn't quite sure why maybe she was so emotionally exhausted after everything that had happened. But as soon as the woman gave a knowing look she fell into her arms and they held each other in a tight hug.

She couldn't fathom why, but being in the woman's almost motherly embrace somehow made her feel better, not whole but at least less empty.

“Your name's Rey isn't it?” the woman asked, Rey nodded into her shoulder “I'm Leia, maybe Han mentioned me?” she nodded again

The woman drew back to look at Rey in the eyes, “I dread to think what he said about me” she said a tiny smirk on her face

Rey gave a small chuckle which lightened the mood considerably.

Leia kept an arm wrapped around Rey as she led her away from the Falcon. She took her down a flight of stairs into one of the bunkers, a few people were milling around. While everyone else was above celebrating those below were mourning their lost friends and family.

She saw Chewie sat in a corner, his head in his paw, he seemed so lost in his grief. Leia sat herself and Rey down on a crate.

Rey looked to her left and a little ways away she could see Poe standing outside what she supposed was the med bay. His arms were crossed and he was tapping his foot impatiently. She hoped Finn would be ok, she'd never forgive herself if he died trying to save her.

Leia put a hand over Rey's hands, which were clasped together in her lap as her knee shook. Slowly she started to calm down, it gave her a chance to think clearer, for some reason Leia's presence had such a calming effect on her.

She couldn't understand why but nothing about the situation made any sense. Her life had been turned upside down, she knew there was no reason to go back to Jakku. Maz had shown her the truth, it was pointless to wait any longer, no one was coming back for her.

Except for Finn, he'd risked his life to save her. Finn and Poe seemed to want her around and the way Leia had held her, it made her feel wanted. And it was just what she needed when her life looked bleak and hopeless, fate had intervened and given her a new purpose. She wanted to help, she just didn't know how.

What had happened in the forest had scared her. She felt like a disaster waiting to happen. She'd lost control when she fought Kylo. She had wanted to kill him, her anger had taken over. She didn't feel in control of her emotions anymore.

What if she hurt someone the way she hurt Kylo. Not that Kylo didn't deserve it, he was the monster who had killed his own father. She wondered if he was dead or had he managed to escape the planet as well.

If he had, would he come after her? Was it even safe to stay with the Resistance if Kylo was hunting her? It could put them in more danger. Leaving was probably the best option, she thought.

Leia gripped Rey's hands then. She stared at the woman, who was looking at her sadly.

“Han was very impressed with you, you know? I think he would have loved it if you had joined his crew” Leia said knowingly.

Rey smirked thinking about how Han would have loved to give a sarcastic comment at that moment. “He already asked me to, but I said I couldn't. I thought I had a responsibility to fulfil.”

“Well there's an old friend of mine who is going to be very lost on that ship all by himself, maybe a new co-pilot for him wouldn't be a bad idea,” she said looking over at Chewie, Rey looked at him too. He did look incredibly lost without his best friend beside him.

Poe came racing over then “Finn's injury was quite severe, though he's stable now. He hasn’t woken up yet, but they're setting up a bacta suit for him. And they're hopeful he'll make a full recovery.”

Rey breathed a sigh of relief, he was going to be ok.

“So General what should our next steps be,” Poe said eagerly.

“First we need to prepare for evacuation. The First Order knows our location and it won't be long before they come after us.” Leia stood up and leaned against the briefing table “After that, I honestly don't know, the First Order is crippled but that won't last long. And with the Republic gone and Snoke still at large, this is going to be more difficult than ever. I just wish Luke was here, he'd know exactly how to defeat Snoke”

The First Order didn't have a large presence on Jakku but the name Snoke was all too familiar to Rey. He was the Supreme Leader of the Order. It sent a shiver down her spine every time she heard the name.

An excited beeping white and orange ball came whizzing past her and almost crashed into Poe. Rey stared at BB-8 bewildered, she didn't understand what he was going on about, something about R2 being awake.

Another couple of droids came round the corner then, a golden protocol droid shuffled forward followed by a white and blue astromech.

“General? Excuse me. General?” Leia turned to look at the golden droid who spoke. “R2-D2 may contain some much needed good news”

“Tell me 3-PO,” She said hopefully.

“Go on R2,” 3-PO said

R2 moved to an empty space by the briefing table as everyone stood up and gathered around him. He projected a hologram above them all. It was a map, the one they'd been looking for, Rey noticed there was a gap for the missing piece that Poe and BB-8 had found.

BB-8 beeped urgently at Poe, he crouched down before the droid “Yeah, all right buddy, hold on” He stood up and went over to the briefing table and took the little item that had started this whole mess and he dropped it into BB-8's open compartment.

The little droid rolled away to where R2-D2 was still projecting the map. And showed everyone the smaller map and moved it perfectly in the place.

“Oh! The map it is complete” 3-PO said happily.

“Luke...” Leia said softly. She was relieved they could find her brother. They could set things right.

***

Poe was leading Rey down to another bunker, once they were down the stairs it was just a long grey corridor lined with doors. Must be sleeping quarters Rey thought.

Poe opened one of the doors and he and Rey entered, it was a small room with a couple of beds inside. It was nothing special but to Rey, it looked like the comfiest thing she'd ever seen. It was a tiny cramped bunk but compared with a hammock or a pile of blankets it was heaven.

She hadn't realized how completely drained she felt until she was looking at those soft pillows and thick blankets. She was utterly ready for sleep to consume her.

“I'm gonna head for a nap as well, maybe then Leia will let us go see Finn,” he said miffed. Leia had forced them both to go for a rest before they could go visit Finn, it had annoyed them both greatly but they eventually accepted it. Leia was not someone to trifle with.

As soon as Poe closed the door behind her, she collapsed onto the bed without a second thought. Her head had barely even hit the pillow before she fell straight to sleep.

She woke up bleary-eyed, Leia was sitting on the bed gently shaking her shoulder.

“I thought I'd best wake you up, you've been asleep for six hours”

“What!” she said sitting up so quickly she saw stars. She never slept for more than two hours a night without waking up.

“I know you probably want to go see Finn, but there's something I wanted to discuss with you first. If that's alright?” Rey nodded her head as Leia continued. “You're a special girl Rey and I'd like your help with a mission”

“I don't know how much help I can be. A day and a half I was just a nobody from nowhere”

“You've never been that, trust me” she smiled “Would you mind telling me what happened when you were on the First Order's base?”

Rey recounted everything that had happened from the interrogation room to the fight in the forest. She noticed Leia's get agitated each time Rey said the name Kylo.

“He's your son but he killed his own father” she stated. Leia looked at her tearfully. She was so strong but her uncaring son was breaking the poor woman's heart.

“It's my fault Han's dead” If she hadn't been caught by then there would have been no need for a rescue mission.

“No Rey it's not your fault, you weren't the only one Han wanted to save on that planet.” Kylo... Ben... That was his name before he turned.

“You wanted him back?”

“I still do. My boy is still in there. Ben was always a troubled boy but there was no way we could have known how badly Snoke was twisting his mind. I hope he finds his way back one day, but I see now that it has to be his choice.”

Leia gave her a pensive look then “You fear your powers. That you can't control them” Rey nodded “I want you to be the one to bring Luke back and when you find him, he'll be able to help you control your powers”

“You really want me to go?” she asked surprised.

“I know you may think your nothing Rey, but I can sense your strength, more than you could possibly know”

Rey always wanted to be more than what she was and in that moment she only needed the courage to take a chance. “I'll go”

Leia smiled “Good, Chewie's already preparing the Falcon to leave. And I've brought some fresh clothes for you to wear.” she said handing Rey a bundle of clothes, then she stood up and opened the door “You should go see Finn as soon as you've changed. I want you to head off as soon as possible.”

And with that she left, Rey hopped up and quickly changed into the clothes Leia had given her. They were simple, just a vest top, three quarter length pants and a soft grey jacket. She put on her old belt and used some of her old clothes for arm bindings.

Once she was dressed she headed out of the room, she walked down the hall but she stopped at the stairs. She turned around she thought she heard someone moan in agony, but no one was there. The hall was empty, so she turned back around and made her way back to the hub. Poe was already in the med bay, sitting by Finn's bedside.

“Still not woken up?” she asked

Poe turned only just realizing she was there. “Not yet,” he said gloomily. “Leia's sending you on a mission?”

“Yeah, I wanted to say goodbye. I've got to go soon.”

Poe nodded “I'll give you some privacy,” he said standing up and heading to the doorway.

Rey sat down by the side of her unconscious friend and watched him sadly for a minute.

“We'll see each other again. I believe that.” she said before she stood up and kissed him on the forehead “Thank you my friend”

She walked out of the room then and found Poe leaning against the wall staring moodily at the floor.

“Stay safe Rey and come back to us,” Poe said seriously.

Rey smiled softly and walked away. She headed towards the Falcon and found Leia waiting for her with the little astromech, R2-D2.

“I want you to take R2 with you, he was Luke's droid and I think he may be helpful to you,” Leia said as the droid gleefully beeped.

“Maybe so” Rey agreed.

The droid rolled away as Leia continued to speak “Luke is wise but he can also be stubborn, so don't take no for an answer. I want you to stress the urgency of the situation to him. He's our last hope to fix this.” she held out he hand then, with a gadget on a bracelet. "It'll help you find your way back to us, we will be on the move soon enough." 

“I understand, I won't let you down.”

BB-8 came whizzing over then. He didn't want Rey to leave without saying goodbye.

“Take care of Finn and Poe for me, Okay?” Rey said crouching down in front of the little droid.

He beeped ruefully as she stood up again and she and Leia then shared a meaningful look. She turned and began to walk to the Falcon.

“Rey” Leia said Rey turned back to look at her “May the Force be with you”

She gave Leia a small smile and then she continued on to the Falcon. Those words were oddly comforting to her, but also strangely familiar. She just couldn't place where from.

She entered the Falcon and headed straight for the cockpit. Chewie was all ready to go, he was punching in the coordinates for the small planet of Ahch-To into the Falcon's database.

He looked at Rey happily as she hopped into the pilot's seat. Quite the crowd had come to wave them off as they lifted the Falcon into the air and flew away. 

Rey's eye was caught by something above her then. It was a pair of golden dice, she'd never seen before. Han must have put them there when he arrived back on his ship. She smiled at them, it was like a small part of Han was still with them.

As soon as they left the atmosphere they engaged the hyperdrive and were sent into lightspeed.

***

They thankfully weren't in hyperspace for very long. They came out to find the planet of Ahch-To right in front of them.

Every time Rey saw a new planet, she was completely mesmerized by it. The fluffy clouds and large expanses of water with little islands dotted around had Rey in awe.

They landed on the biggest of the islands as that's where the map had pointed them to. All three of them left the ship, but Chewie and R2 stayed behind while Rey hiked up the island.

She had packed a bag before leaving the Falcon, it contained Luke's old lightsaber. She also finally had her staff back. She'd accidentally left it on board the Falcon when they went to Takodana. She was glad to have it back, she felt a lot more in control with her own weapon back.

She'd travelled all the way up a tall set of stone steps to what seemed to be an abandoned settlement. She continued on up to a bit where to ground levelled out and saw a figure in the distance, covered in a cloak.

She approached him but stopped when he turned around. He pulled down the hood of his cloak and she saw the older man, with his long scraggly hair and unkempt beard. He looked at her curiously as she opened her bag and took the saber out.

She held it out to him, hoping he would come over and take it. But he just stared at her forlornly as the wind blew around them.

It didn't matter to her what he had done to make him run away. All Rey knew was that the task ahead of her would be difficult, but she would gladly take it on because somehow she knew she was right where she should be.

End of Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone whose been reading, see you all in Part 2 xx


	13. The Evacuation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to my besties for all the support and now on the Part 2

Part 2 – The Last Skywalker

Chapter 13 – The Evacuation

The First Order had found them. Barely twenty-four hours after the resistance had destroyed Starkiller Base and they were already coming after them.

They thankfully had an early warning. The First Order knew they were in the Ileenium System but not which planet they were on. So as soon as they were notified that the First Order was in the system, the evacuation increased in speed tenfold.

Poe had hoped they would have more time, but at the very least he had been able to get Finn onboard the Raddus and he had stayed by his side until the moment they had been alerted to the First Order presence in the area.

Poe quickly ran down the corridors of the ship, heading straight for the hangar. He jumped into his X-Wing and prepared himself, B-88 was already there raring to go. They had added a new prototype booster to his ship's engine, he just hoped that their plan would work.

The First Order would obviously reach D'Qar before they had finished evacuating, so he and Leia knew their only chance to escape would be a distraction.

He saw Rose, Jess and Snap heading to their X-Wings, while Tallie was heading for one of the last A-Wings they had left. They were there to help just in case Poe needed back up.

Rose came over the intercom then.

“They're almost finished with the evacuation, Leia said there are a few more transports to come up. They're leaving most of the ammunition behind and focusing on getting all the fuel onboard.”

“Copy that, Rose” he replied.

“I can't believe-” Rose was interrupted then, as Kaydel radioed over from on the planet.

“Poe! Three star destroyers have just emerged from hyperspace along with a Dreadnought” she informed him.

Poe groaned internally as he flew out of the hangar, putting his guns and shields in attack mode. Three star destroyers were more than enough trouble without adding a Dreadnought into the mix as well.

“Tallie get the teams on stand by, we're gonna need to do a bombing run on that dreadnought, wait for my signal. Okay?” Poe said as he came face to face with the four giant ships.

"Copy that," Tallie said

He couldn't imagine how he must have looked to those aboard the destroyers. His little X-Wing ready to face off against a small First Order fleet. Little did they know what he had in store for them.

BB-8 beeped worriedly as Poe began to power up his booster.

“Happy beeps here, buddy, come on,” he said trying to calm both their nerves. “We've pulled crazier stunts than this” Too many to count in fact.

“Just for the record, Commander Dameron, I'm with the droid on this one,” Leia said coming over the intercom.

The mission had hardly started and there were far too many bad feelings going around for Poe's taste.

“Thank you for your support, General.” Poe said sarcastically before whispering “Happy beeps”

Then he patched his comms through to the lead destroyer “Attention! This is Commander Poe Dameron of the Republic fleet. I have an urgent communique for General Hugs”

“This is General Hux of the First Order. The Republic is no more, your fleet are rebel scum and war criminals. Tell your precious princess there will be no terms... There will be no surrender.”

Poe rolled his eyes, Hux couldn't sound more full of himself if he tried.

“Hi, I'm holding for General Hugs,” he said, hearing Rose snickering over the intercom.

“This is Hux! You and your friends are doomed! We will wipe your filth from the galaxy!” he said his temper rising.

“Okay, I'll hold,” he said trying to keep his voice neutral as he taunted Hux further.

Rose continued to laugh at intervals until they heard Leia speak up.

“Rose if you can't control yourself at least turn off your comms.”

“Oh! Sorry General” she squeaked before going silent.

As he heard Leia chastising Rose, Hux muttered a confused “Hello?”

“Hello? Yup, I'm still here” he said patiently waiting for Hux to become more infuriated.

“Can you... Can he hear me?” Hux asked someone else confused. “He can.”

“Hugs. With an H. Skinny guy, kinda pasty.”

“I can hear you. Can you hear me?”

Poe watched as the red power bar for his booster was almost full.

“Look, I can't hold on forever. If you reach him... tell me Leia has an urgent message for him” he paused, he shouldn't say what he wanted to, but he was going to all the same. “About his mother”

Thunderous laughter flooded his ears then, it seemed as though Rose had accidentally switched her comms back on and she was in hysterics.

Hux was obviously tired with his games and was ready to blast him out of space.

But it was too late for that, the light of the booster finally turned green.

“BB-8 punch it” he screamed and before he knew it they were zooming forward headed straight for the Dreadnought. He was pulled back into his seat and then he jolted forward as he glided over the giant ship.

“That's got some kick,” he cheered. The cannons on top of the ship fired at him but he was far too quick for them.

One by one he shot at the cannons and swerved around them as they exploded.

“All right, taking out the cannons now. Tallie, start your approach”

“Copy that,” she said.

He'd taken out one side of cannons and spun around to get the ones on the other side. He was taking out the rest of the cannons easily until BB-8 started beeping frantically.

“There's one cannon left. And here comes the parade” he said as a whole fleet of TIE's were coming after him.

BB-8 beeped even more urgently “Yeah, yeah, I see 'em”

Dozens of blasts flew past his ship. Then the whole ship lurched just as he was about to hit the final cannon. Sparks flew from his controls and when he pressed his triggers his guns didn't fire.

“No, no. Dammit! BB-8 my weapon systems. We gotta take out that last cannon or our bombers are toast. Work your magic, buddy.”

The TIE's were in hot pursuit but all he could do was dodge their attacks and lure them into crashing their own ships. 

That was when the Dreadnought fired, Poe's heart sank but was immediately lighten as Connix came over the intercom “The last transport is in the air, the evacuation is complete”

“You did it Poe” Leia congratulated him “Now get your squad back here, so we can get out of this place”

But Poe wasn't having that. “No General! We can do this. We have a chance to take down a Dreadnought” he shouted as one of the TIE's behind him crashed into an antenna and then split into three pieces. “These things are fleet killers. We can't let it get away.”

“Disengage now, Commander that is an order-”

Poe didn't hear another word though, as he had switched off his comms link. She'd thank him for it later.

Poe had made an entire loop around the ship and only had two TIE's left on his tail. He was almost back to the last cannon but BB-8 still hadn't managed to get his weapons back up.

“Let's go BB-8, it's now or never!” Seconds later his weapons went back online and he shot at the cannon destroying it and then flying straight through the explosion. Then he twisted his ship around as the two TIE's flew through the explosion as well. He came around and fired at them crashing down onto the ship below.

“Yeah! Woohoo! All clear, bring the bombs”

***

Rose was in her X-Wings flying along with the rest of her squad, keeping close to her sister's bomber. The bombers had been a gunner short, so Paige had immediately volunteered.

“Bombers, keep that tight formation. Fighters, protect the bombers. It's not every day we get a shot at a Dreadnought, so make this count” Tallie said taking on her new role as a team leader, as best as she could”

“Copy that, Blue Leader,” Finch said, piloting the same bomber Paige was in. “If you get us there, we'll give it to them.”

“Copy that,” Rose said excitedly, eager for the fight.

“Fighters incoming” Jess announced.

“Gunners, look alive” Rose just about heard Tallie say before a cacophony of sound came through the comms, as the ships engaged in battle. Everyone was shouting and talking over each other.

She saw a couple of X-Wings explode and then a bomber also went down. She managed to take out one of the TIE's and then another.

Rose noticed Poe's black X-Wing come flying up from underneath the ship.

“Tallie, they've targeted the fleet and begun the priming sequence,” Poe said urgently.

“Copy that. We are almost there. Bombardiers, begin your drop sequence” Tallie said directing everyone.

“I've got a visual on the target. We are approaching the sweet spot, the bombs are armed.” Nix said he was the other member of Paige's team.

Another bomber went down and Rose made a beeline for her sister's ship as a TIE Fighter was headed directly for the bomber.

Rose took aim and fired on the ship before it could shoot its target. Unfortunately, the ship's fiery wing went flying into the open bay doors of one of the other bombers.

She looked on in horror as the bomber exploded, pieces of the ship flew off and hit the two bombers on either side. Paige's was the only one left.

“Paige, come in. We're over the target, why aren't your bay doors open? You're the only bomber left, it's all down to you” Poe shouted, panicked.

There was no response from Paige, Rose's heart felt like it was pounding outside of her chest. The bay doors of the ship had opened but no bombs were released.

“Paige! Drop the payload, now!” Poe screamed.

Rose was so transfixed by the scene in front she didn't notice the TIE firing at the bomber until it was too late.

“Look out!” Finch yelled as the top of the ship caught fire.

Rose screamed in agony as the fire spread, Poe was screaming too but she could hear him, so lost by the sight of her sister's ship being engulfed in flames. Just as all the bombs cascaded out of the ship.

“Bombs away,” Tallie said while the final bomber fell into the growing inferno below.

Tears welled in Rose's eyes as she cried holding her necklace tightly in her hand, knowing Paige would be doing the same thing in her final moments.

Dreadnought was exploding, no way was it coming back from that.

Rose couldn't remember flying back to the Raddus, numbness was spreading through her body. All she could remember was landing on the ship and then they flew away straight into hyperspace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all who are reading this xx
> 
> P.S I'm interested to see what you guys think of the name change


	14. The Jedi Master

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks once again to my amazing best friends.

Chapter 14 – The Jedi Master

Rey felt like she had been standing on that cliffside for an age. She was standing in front of Luke Skywalker holding out his lightsaber to him, like an idiot.

What had she expected to happen, he would use the Force and take it out of her grip. Or should he have beckoned her forward and taken it from her with thanks? After a while, it became clear neither of those options were going to happen.

So she walked forward closing the gap between them. Luke watched her, a miserable look permanently etched onto his face. She held out the saber once more and he finally raised his hands and took hold of the saber. Rey noticed that one of his hands was an artificial hand and it was down to its bare metal workings, which she thought was curious.

If her memory served her, Darth Vader had been the one to do that, he sliced off his own son's hand. The more she became intertwined in the lives of the Skywalker's, it was clear to her that all the stories she'd heard were true.

Luke took the saber in both his hands and stared down at it as Rey took a few steps backwards. The last time he'd held that saber in his hand, well it had been a different hand, Rey thought.

He looked at her curiously then and she swelled up with as much confidence as she could bolster. He stepped forward coming towards her he grunted, then flung the saber to his left and hurriedly walked away.

“Master Skywalker,” she said watching him walk away. She went to the place where Luke had chucked the saber. A few fat birds she hadn't noticed before were milling around the item but they soon scattered when Rey came over to pick the saber up.

She stuffed it back into her bag as she went after Luke. He'd gone back to the little village below, but she'd lost sight of him until she heard a door slam to her right.

She went over to the little hut and spoke politely to the closed door. “Master Skywalker... I'm from the Resistance. Your sister Leia sent me. We need your help.” There was no reply.

She tried knocking on the door with her staff but the occupant inside remained firmly silent.

“Hello?” But there was still no answer. Becoming increasingly frustrated with the Jedi master, she tried to open the door but it was locked. She huffed and stomped back down the steps towards the Falcon.

“Chewie!” she yelled, she hadn't meant to shout but she was just so infuriated with Luke's reception of her. He was not at all what she had expected.

“I need your help with something,” she said in what she hoped was a light tone, as the Wookie came down the ramp looking puzzled. But he followed her all the same, straight back up the steps to the hut Luke was still hiding in.

Chewie tried the door but nothing happened.

“He's locked himself in,” Rey sighed.

Then he tried hammering on the door a couple of times.

“Go away,” Luke said, finally responding to them. But Chewie had had enough, he took a step back and ran full force at the door, knocking it off its hinges.

Chewie roared at Luke telling him off as though he were a child

“Chewie, what are you doing here?” he asked surprised.

“We're here to take you back with us” Rey interjected stepping forward.

“How did you find me?”

“Long story, we'll tell you on the Falcon” Rey said trying to stress the urgency of the matter.

“Falcon? Wait. Where's Han?”

Chewie whined like a wounded animal and turned to walk out of the hut. He sat down by an old fire pit, his grief overwhelming him once more. Rey followed him out wanting to comfort him.

Luke came out of the hut too and sat down on the other side of fire pit. Rey looked at him as he stared at her waiting for an explanation.

“I'd been captured by the First Order, Han came to rescue me but he tried to help someone else while he was there”

Luke nodded knowing exactly who Rey was talking about as he glared at the ground.

“Han wouldn't have wanted to go out any other way, fighting to save the ones he loved. But Ben or whatever he calls himself now, he's too far gone”

“You're right,” Rey said standing up and stepping towards Luke. “There's no light left in Kylo Ren. He's only getting stronger. The First Order will control the major systems within weeks. We need your help. We need the Jedi Order back. We need Luke Skywalker”

Luke had been looking away from her throughout her whole speech, until her last statement. He simply shook his head.

“You don't need Luke Skywalker”

“Did you hear a word I just said?” She said annoyed.

“You think what? I'm gonna walk out with a laser sword and face down the whole First Order? What did you think was going to happen here? You think that I came to the most unfindable place in the galaxy for no reason at all”

He stood up and turned away, heading for another set of steps “Go away...”

“I'm not leaving without you!” she shouted after him. She looked back at Chewie shaking her head as he nodded. Leia had said that Luke could be stubborn but she'd had higher expectations. What was the reason behind his cynical and depressed attitude?

Rey grabbed up her bag and staff, which she had left by Luke's hut and followed after him once more. He wandered around the island for a while, not doing much of anything. Rey kept at a distance but Luke knew she was there. He scowled at her every time he looked back to see if she'd given up yet.

He ended up making his way back to his hut and went inside locking the door again. Rey sat down on the bench where Chewie had been sat earlier, he must have gone back to the Falcon.

She jumped when Luke yanked open the door and then he rolled his eyes as he saw Rey was still waiting for him. He walked away slinging an over-packed satchel onto his shoulder.

They started hiking over to the other side of the island. The wind started to pick up and goosebumps came up along her arms. That's when she remembered that Chewie had given her a poncho for if it got cold on the island.

She grabbed it out of her bag and pulled it over her head. Then she started to hike up the hill, that Luke had nearly reached the top of. She used her staff to help her get over cumbersome rocks and grassy verges.

When Rey made it to the top she saw Luke had made his way down to the coast. She followed him down towards a group of creatures she'd never seen before. She smiled thinking about how truly amazing the galaxy truly was sometimes.

Her expression changed immediately to a look of horror though. Luke was milking the huge blubbery creature as it gave a pained cry. The creature turned its snout to Rey, who looked away really not wanting to see that.

Luke drank his fill of the milk and filled his bottle up once more before he was off again.

Rey was confused as they made their way up another hill. There didn't seem to be a way forward, from what she could see, it was a sheer cliff drop in front of them.

Luke dropped his satchel when he reached the edge and then grabbed hold of a pole leaning on the cliffside. Then he launched himself off the cliff, Rey raced over to the edge screaming “Careful!”

But he had reached the other side easily and looked over to her moodily as thunder crackled above.

She watched as he lifted the pole higher and jumped off the ledge, stabbing something below. The pole tilted back to the other side and he landed gracefully back on land in front of Rey.

Luke pulled up his catch as rain began to fall. He put his satchel on his shoulders and then put his catch which was some kind of giant fish on his back. And then he moved off once again.

The rain poured down as they travelled back to the village. Rey was trying to use her hood to shield her from the torrential downpour, while still trying to keep Luke in sight.

By the time they were back at the little village, the rain had stopped and the suns of the planet were beginning to set. Rey stood in front of Luke hut waiting as she twiddled the beacon on her bracelet between her fingers.

When Luke came out, he sighed “You're wasting your time.” Then he walked off into the hills again.

Rey followed suit if Luke thought she was going to give up he was sorely mistaken. She could be just as stubborn as he was and waiting came naturally to her.

Mist and wind surrounded them as they went up into the hills. Rey was trailing behind Luke when she heard sudden whisperings all around her. It disorientated her that much, she fell to her knees.

She looked back to the coast, sensing the calls were coming from over there. She noticed a dense foggy area and in that moment she forgot about following Luke and her mission. The call of that mysterious place was too strong.

The closer she got the more clear it was that within the fog was an old gnarled tree. Something compelled her to go inside, it was pitch black inside with the only source of light  
illuminating a small row of books.

She moved closer, the whispers became more intense as she stretched a hand out to the books. But before her fingers even touched a book, she was stopped in her tracks

“Who are you?” It was Luke, he was standing in the entranceway of the tree. It brought her out of her hazy trance. She didn't feel lost though if anything the place felt oddly familiar.

“I know this place”

Where had she seen it before? Then she remembered, in her dreams of the island. It was just a glimpse of it most nights.

“Built a thousand generations ago,” he said, walking towards the set of books. “To keep these, the original Jedi text. Just like me, they're the last of the Jedi religion.” he had picked up one of the books and opened it, grazing his finger across one of the pages. Then he turned to look at her. “You've seen this place. You've seen this island.”

“Only in dreams,” she said. The place had been an oasis in her dreams, a way to escape from the hell that was Jakku.

“Who are you?” he asked again.

“The Resistance sent me”

“They sent you? What's your name?”

“Rey”

“And what is special about you, Rey? Where are you from?”

“Nowhere”

“No ones from nowhere,” he said encouragingly.

“Jakku”

“All right, that is pretty much nowhere” he conceded. “Why are you here, Rey from nowhere?”

“The Resistance sent me. We need your help. The First Order has become unstoppable-” she said but Luke interrupted the speech she had rehearsed in her head.

“No, why are you here?” he said, making it clear what he wanted to know.

Rey thought back to the forest and her fight with Kylo. She'd been able to overpower him. However, the more she fought the less control she felt she had over her actions.

“Something inside me had always been there. But now it's awake. And I'm afraid. I don't know what it is or what to do with it. And I need help”

“You need a teacher” he stated turning his back on her “I can't teach you”

“Why not?” She said coming around to face him. Then bluntly stating “I've seen your daily routine you are not busy”

“I will never train another generation of Jedi. I came to this island to die. It's time for the Jedi to end.” He said heading out of the tree before stopping at the entrance.

“Why? Leia sent me here with hope. If she was wrong, she deserves to know why. We all do”

But Luke didn't answer her and walked away.

Rey sighed, she thought she might be getting somewhere with Luke but in the end, it seemed like she was just back where she started.

***

There hadn't been many times Kylo Ren had been summoned to the Supremacy and they were never pleasant times. And it was bound to sting even more than the wound he had received from the girl. He had been defeated and would have to explain it to Snoke somehow.

The scar across his face twinged every so often under his mask as he stood in the elevator on his way up to Snoke's throne room.

He was attempting to gain some composure before the elevator stopped. Since meeting that girl he had been so scrambled and other events had made things worse.

He almost jumped out of his skin then. He could have sworn he heard a long drawn out sigh, but he was definitely alone in the elevator, maybe he was mad after everything that had happened.

The doors to the elevator opened then. “Tied on a string, indeed, General Hux. Well done. The Resistance will soon be in our grasp.” Snoke said as Ren entered the room.

“Thank you, Supreme Leader,” Hux said, turning to leave. He smirked at Ren as he passed him. He rolled his eyes, Hux couldn't defeat the Resistance if they were literally, tied on a string. Ren had a fairly good plan prepared for when they caught up with them, but even then it could go wrong.

Snoke was chuckling as Ren knelt before him.

“You wonder why I keep a rabid cur in such a place of power? A cur's weakness properly manipulated... Can be a sharp tool.” He said answering his own question while staring intently at Ren. “How's your wound?”

“It's nothing,” he said downplaying the fact he had been screaming in agony as the medics tried to heal him.

“Hmm, the mighty Kylo Ren. When I found you... I saw what all masters live to see. Raw, untamed power. Beyond that something truly special. And the potential of your bloodline. A new Vader” Snoke said as Ren almost thought he could hear his grandfather harsh breathing. “Now I fear... I was mistaken.”

Ren looked up at him sadly. “I've given everything I have to you. To the dark side”

“Take that ridiculous thing off” Snoke whispered threateningly.

Ren unclipped his mask and took it off his head showing Snoke his scar.

“Yes, there it is,” Snoke said making Ren feel incredibly vulnerable. “You have too much of your father's heart in you young Solo”

“I killed Han Solo,” he said angrily, Snoke was taunting him by calling him his old name. “When the moment came I didn't hesitate!”

“And look at you, the deed split your spirit to the bone” Snoke spoke the truth even if Ren did not want to admit it. “You were unbalanced, bested by a girl who had never held a lightsaber! You failed!”

Ren stood up as Snoke raged at him, but he was knocked back to the ground when Snoke shocked him with lightning. Ren saw the Praetorian guard stand on the offensive ready to defend Snoke.

“Skywalker Lives. The seed of the Jedi Order lives. As long as it does, hope lives in the galaxy.” Snoke had returned to his throne as Ren rose to his feet again. He looked so disappointed as he lounged on the throne. “I thought you would be the one to snuff it out. Alas, you're no Vader. You're just a child in a mask”

Ren looked down at the mask in his hand, what Snoke said had hurt but he could see how he was right. Just because he acted and tried to look like Vader didn't make him as powerful as his grandfather.

“Your knights will continue the mission you seem incapable of completing. They will find Skywalker and the girl, while you can help in the defeat of the Resistance, maybe you will prove more effective at that.”

Ren turned, heading for the elevator. He was trying so hard to keep his breathing under control. As the doors of the elevator closed his breath came out rapidly, he felt so unstable, so useless. He had to do something to prove himself to Snoke it was the only way.

He may not have known what he needed to do, but he knew he no longer needed his mask. He was a murderer, a traitor, a monster, there was no point hiding it anymore.

He gripped the mask tightly and smashed it into the elevator wall, it was in tiny pieces by the time the elevator doors opened.

“Prepare my ship!” he screamed at the two officers outside the doors and then he stomped away heading for the hangar, the Resistance needed to be dealt with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for the kudos and comments it really appreciated.


	15. No Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was such a difficult chapter, for some reason. Thanks to my besties who inspire me everyday.

Chapter 15 - No Escape

Finn was lying in the snow and he couldn't move a muscle. All he could do was watch as Ren stalked towards Rey's unconscious body. That's when he started awake...

“Rey!” Finn shouted trying to get up but he banged his head against something in front of his face.

The last thing he remembered was fighting Ren, he must have gone down. Rey was in trouble though, he had to help her. He tried to sit up again but hit his head on what seemed to be a bubble above him.

That's when he realized he was no longer in the forest. He lifted the bubble up and tried to stand but his legs were like jelly, so he ended up falling head first onto the floor.

He managed to clumsily get to his feet and registered that he was in a med room aboard a ship that was hurtling through hyperspace.

Finn felt incredibly dazed but one thought was firmly stuck in his head, he had to find his friends. He started shuffling out of the room, not knowing all the tubes he was connected to had disconnected and begun leaking everywhere.

He was disorientated as he walked through the halls. People were staring at him while also slipping all over the place, as the liquid was still pouring out of the suit he was wearing.

He was making his way past the ship's hangar, which was alive with activity when he heard someone call his name.

“Finn! Finn, buddy” Poe called, grabbing his shoulder and wanting to hug him, but the liquid leaking from the bacta suit made it impossible to do so. “It's so good to see you, Lets uh... We need to get you dressed. Come on you must have a thousand questions.”

In an instance, Finn's mind became remarkably clearer.

“Where's Rey?”

“Don't worry buddy, she's safe, she's on a mission for Leia,” Poe said soothingly leading him away. They made it to Poe's quarters and he gave Finn some clothes.

Finn stripped off the bacta suit leaving puddles all over the floor as Poe filled him on what had been happening.

“What happened to me? The last thing I remember was a lot of pain and then everything went black”

Poe came up behind him “Ren used his saber to burn you down your back” he traced a line with his finger down Finn's back, where the injury had been. “But it's all healed thanks to the medics”

Poe blinked realizing what he had done and he immediately retreated to his chest of draws to grab something while Finn finished getting dressed.

“Also I thought you might like this back,” Poe said handing Finn his old jacket.

Finn smiled, taking it from him. He noticed the shoulder had been patched up. He remembered Ren slicing into it as he screamed with pain.

“You fixed the shoulder?” he asked.

Poe blushed “When I get stressed, I need a project to take mine off things and I thought you might like it back so...”

They both looked down at the ground, awkwardly smiling at Poe's half true babble. The moment was interrupted, however when the ship lurched as it finally dropped out of hyperspace.

At the same moment, someone knocked on Poe's door. He went over to the door, on the other side was C3-PO.

“Ah Commander Dameron, The General is on her way to the bridge, she wishes to speak with you”

“Sure 3-PO, we're on our way,” Poe said, beckoning Finn to follow him. He scrambled to put on his jacket and to catch up with Poe.

Once they had made their way to the bridge, Finn went to look at the maps desperate to know their location. While Poe made his way over to Leia.

He expected to receive congratulations on a job well done, but instead as soon as he approached her she slapped him hard across the face.

“You're demoted,” she said sternly, making to walk away. But he held her back to make sure she didn't ignore him.

“What? Wait! We took down a dreadnought” he said surprised at her reaction.

“At what cost?”

“If you start an attack, you follow it through,” he explained.

“Poe, get your head out of your cockpit. There are things you can not solve by jumping in an X-Wing and blowing something up! I need you to learn that.”

She brushed past him but he grabbed her arm angrily. His friends had died on that mission but they had known as well as him what risks there were. And they sacrificed themselves to save everyone else.

“There were heroes on that mission.”

“Dead heroes, no leaders,” she said, putting an end in their argument with that final sentiment.

Leia went over to the main table and then she spotted Finn searching the maps in front of him.

“Good to see you up and about again Finn. Although, is something worrying you?”

“We're really nowhere. How's Rey going to find us now?” he said walking down to where Leia stood.

Leia held her arm up and revealed an object on her wrist.

“A cloaked binary beacon?” He smiled

“To light her way home”

“Alright well, until she comes back, what's the plan?” he said, joining the rest around the table.

“We need to find a new base”

“One with enough power to get a distress signal to our allies, scattered in the Outer Rim,” said Commander D'acy.

Suddenly alarms started going off everywhere.

“Proximity alert” Admiral Ackbar screeched.

“They've found us,” another officer said.

“That's impossible,” Poe muttered coming up behind Ackbar.

In front of them was a whole armada of star destroyers and above them all, The Supremacy.

“That's Snoke's ship. You've gotta be kidding me?” Poe moved to Finn's side as everyone around them frantically made their way to their positions. “Can we jump to lightspeed?”

“We have enough fuel but we're still in the process of unloading it, we need more time to refuel,” said Connix urgently. Poe whipped around to stand in front of Leia.

“Permission to jump in an X-Wing and blow something up?” Poe asked knowing at least in this circumstance he was right.

Leia took a deep calming breath. “Did I not make my point earlier or do you need another slap” Poe gaped at her in confusion “We need to use a bit of common sense here.”

“Well, maybe we would have more if the people we trusted the most were a bit more honest with us,” Poe said, still annoyed that Leia hadn't been honest with him about Ben.

Leia narrowed her eyes at him, not knowing what he was getting at.

“They've tracked us through lightspeed,” she said surprising everyone in the room.

“That's impossible,” Finn exclaimed.

“Yes and they've done it”

“Well if they're tracking us, isn't now the time we should attack?” Poe said thinking it was a reasonable question.

“Don't you think that's exactly what they want us to do. We need to be smarter than them” Leia replied

“How?” Finn asked.

Leia turned on her heel and started ordering everyone about, “Admiral swing us around, full engines ahead, we needed to get out of range of those star destroyers”

“All crafts, full engines! Concentrate rear shields.” Ackbar ordered as the ship began to turn.

“Poe, I want you and Finn to go to the hangar. Put a manual override in place on the shields. I want nothing getting in or out.” She said obviously knowing something they didn't, infuriating him further with her lack of information.

But there was no time for Poe to question it, he had a job to do. He raced to the door Finn on his heels as Leia was ordering Connix to go oversee the refuelling.

He grabbed his communicator from his pocket and spoke into it as he ran “All teams, I need every available unit to help with refuelling now!”

“On it Poe, we'll be out of here soon enough” Tallie radioed over, along with Snap and Jess coming over seconds after. He just hoped they'd be quick enough.

***

Ren was in his fighter heading straight for the Resistance's ships. It had been easy to find them once they came out of hyperspace.

“Follow my lead,” He said to his team of fighters.

He flew over the ships, firing on the main ship's stern creating explosions all along it. He spun his ship around and down to the entrance of the ship's hangar. He barreled down the tunnel as he prepared his cannons and fired when he was in position.

But the cannons didn't go flying through to the hanger as he expected, they exploded in front of him forcing him to spin around quickly to dodge the blast.

He cursed, someone had been able to predict his maneuver. He headed back out into the attack above, if he could get they're fleet, he was definitely going to hit their bridge.

He swung around focusing his sight on his target. However, he felt a presence at that moment which almost stopped his heart. His mother was aboard that ship, his breath shuddered and his thumbs twitched above the triggers.

He sensed her trying to reach out to him, almost begging him. But he couldn't let her in. He didn't want to feel the pain and disappointment, he knew she was feeling. His grief over Han was too much bare, no matter how much he wished to deny it, he didn't even want to imagine the way his mother was feeling.

The same fear that gripped him on Starkiller Base was there again, he didn't want to feel her anger. He just wanted it all to go away. He pressed his thumb to triggers of his cannons, his targeting system aimed at the bridge, his mother stood on.

He was holding his breath, utterly conflicted. Snoke would want him to end her, her death would destroy the Resistance. But Snoke was wrong about killing Han, it didn't make him stronger and neither would this. He wouldn't do it, he thought as he took his thumbs off the trigger.

He had to come up with a way to call off the attack. It was too late though, his stomach dropped at that moment, two TIE's had followed him and had fired on the bridge. It exploded, fire pouring out of the hole in the ship.

He wasn't able to take a moment to process what had happened though, he needed to move back into formation with his team and act like he wanted to continue the attack.

A hologram popped up in front of him then, “Ren, the Resistance have pulled out of reach. We can't cover you at this distance. Return to the Fleet” Hux ordered and then the hologram faded.

Anger boiled in Ren as he sped back to the fleet if only that message had come a minute earlier. But it was too little too late, she was gone.

***

Poe dash through the halls, BB-8 rolling away in front of him while Finn struggled to keep up.

They reached the hangar, it was almost empty as he urged the last few stragglers out. That's when Finn who caught with him had patted him on the shoulder, directing him to look over to one of the X-Wings.

Rose was sitting inside it, she seemed completely out of it, tears falling thick and fast down her cheeks.

“Rose!” Poe screamed as he raced over to her. “Rose, we need you. I know you're hurting but I need you to snap out of this.”

Rose looked up, coming out of the spiral of grief she had trapped herself in. “What's going on?”

“The First Order is attacking us and I need to lock down the hangar,” he said taking her hand to pull her out of the ship.

She nodded quickly stepping out of the ship and following the others to the entrance of the hangar.

Poe was pressing buttons on a panel outside the hangar door, the door closed as the ship started to rock around violently. They were coming under fire.

“BB-8, I need those shields up now!” Poe said as the little droid who was already plugged into the systems beeped away getting his job done “I just hope it's gonna be enough”

Rose perked up with an idea then, “Poe, all of the ships are connected to the hangar at the moment. We can reroute their shield generators to the hangar's shield giving it more power”

“That's a great idea Rose” she gave a little smile as Poe crouched before his droid “Think you can do it, buddy” The droid beeped happily.

They all looked through the window to the hangar, seeing a shimmer pass over the room as BB-8 finished powering up the shields.

“What's that?” Finn asked, pointing at a ship that was flying down the mouth of the hangar's tunnel.

“What Leia was worried about”

Poe prayed to every god he knew of that those shields would hold. Two cannon blasts came speeding towards them but thankfully the fiery blast didn't reach them, they were repelled by the shields. They all gave a small cheer as they saw their plan had worked.

But there was no time for celebrations, they had to get back to Leia. They turned to head back to the bridge.

Connix came over the comms then “We have enough fuel unloaded to go, are we ready?”

But there was no answer from the bridge, Poe forced himself to go as fast as he possibly could leaving the others behind.

“Are we ready? What's going on?” Connix screamed through the comms

“Kaydel, head to secondary controls. Get us out of here. I'm on the way to the bridge”

“Copy that Poe, I'm on my way.”

He was feet away from the doorway of the bridge when he saw the terrible sight in front of him. The entire bridge had been obliterated.

But within the chaos of the room he could not enter was Leia. She seemed welded in the ground, her hand outstretched holding her in place. The suction of space should have pulled her out but Poe knew she was using the Force to hold herself there.

“Poe, I'm at the controls, are we ready?” Connix shouted urgently.

“No! No! Wait!”

“Why?”

How could he explain the sight in front of him? Leia seemed to be losing consciousness with the strength of holding herself there. That was until her fingers twitched and she glided forward, heading for the door.

Her hand pressed against the door and opened immediately. And then it closed as soon as she passed through it.

The door in front of Poe opened and Leia collapsed to the floor. He crouched down above her, she was definitely unconscious but he was so stunned, he didn't know what to do.

“Poe!” Connix screamed

“Go Kaydel, go now!” he screamed back and then the ship lurched as they were plunged back into hyperspace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks to anyone reading this xx


	16. The Connection

Chapter 16 – The Connection

Luke stepped out of his hut and found Rey asleep across from his door. He sighed wondering if she would give up soon. He pulled his hood up and crept past the girl, careful not to wake her up.

He was headed for the coast when he saw the Falcon, illuminated by a fire Chewie was cooking over.

How long had it been, since he had been aboard the old ship that he had once thought a home? There was no harm in being curious, he thought.

So he snuck past Chewie who seemed to be having a problem with the native birds that Luke called Porgs and went up the ramp and walked through the ship.

It had been some time since he'd last been on the Falcon, but it felt like no time had passed at all. He stepped into the old lounge, feeling like that fresh-faced boy off on his first adventure of many.

He made his way to the cockpit, switching on the lighting as he entered. He surveyed the room, his lips twitched when he saw a very familiar object. Han's lucky dice, he pulled them down and placed them into his other hand.

He headed back to the lounge and sat down on the sofa. He gripped the dice tightly in his hand and took a moment to remember Han. He thought of his old friend, wondering how things ended the way they did. He couldn't change what had happened all he could do was mourn his friend.

He simply sat there in silence until he heard some small beeps from across the room.

“R2? R2!” he chuckled pulling his hood down. Could it really be his little friend? The droid rolled over to him, beeping happily but then quickly changing his tune and became very annoyed.

“Yes, yes I know,” he said understandingly. But R2-D2 was not finished. He said some things that would have even made his sister blush. “Hey! Sacred island, watch the language” He sighed R2 was disappointed in him for running away. But he couldn't go back not after what had happened.

“Old friend. I wish I could make you understand But I'm not coming back, nothing can make me change my mind” R2 turned his head then and projected a very old message.

“Years ago, you served my father in the Clone Wars. Now he begs you to help him in his struggle against the Empire, I regret that I am unable to present my father's request in person”

“That was a cheap move” he grumbled. R2 turned his head giving him what could only be the droid version of a side-eye as his sister's static-filled voice continued on.

“But my ship has fallen under attack and I fear my mission to bring you to Alderaan has failed. This is our most desperate hour. Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope”

Luke looked to the ground as the message finished, it was indeed a cheap move on R2's part but also a clever one. He'd used the very thing that had brought him into the fight in the first place to try and coax him out of hiding.

If he'd never heard that message, he'd most likely still be a moisture farmer on Tatooine but the galaxy would have been a much darker place. He would stay firm on not leaving the island, he'd saved the galaxy once, it was someone else''s turn.

But when he had stared at the hologram of his sister, he knew that Rey was right. Leia deserved to know why he wasn't coming back. And he could spare a day to explain his reasons to the girl and help her understand the Force while making it clear why the Jedi had to end.

He stood up and patted R2 on the head. “It was good to see you again my little friend” Then he took one final look around the Falcon and walked away, certain of what he had to do next.

***

Rey woke up suddenly feeling a presence behind her, she rolled over to find Luke looming over her. It was quite an unnerving sight.

“Tomorrow at dawn,” he said as she sat up. “Three lessons. I will teach you the ways of the Jedi. And why they need to end.”

She just sat there bewildered as Luke went into his hut for the night. What could have brought on his change of heart? She thought.

He stopped before he closed the door “The hut opposite mine is livable” he said pointing to the hut across the way “It may not have a door but it will at least keep the rain off of you” Then he shut his door and locked it.

Rey made her way to the other hut, inside was a stone bench where she knew she would end up sleeping and a fire pit with a little stool on either side of it.

She slipped her poncho off and folded it up to us as a pillow and placed her bag on the other end on the bench and unhooked her blaster from her belt putting it on top of her bag.

She lay down on the bench thinking as she started to fall asleep, Luke may be grumpy but deep down he had a good heart.

***

Rey felt a warm patch of sunlight on her face as she woke up. She sat up drowsily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, her back ached from lying on hard stone all night.

She heard a strange snipping noise coming from across the room but she didn't know where it was coming from. A flood of powerful energy came flowing through the hut and then she straight ahead, but she could not believe what she was seeing.

Kylo Ren was sitting on the stool right in front of her, they were both staring dumbfounded at each other, her hazel eyes staring directly into his cold black as the sound of their breaths echoed across the room.

She instinctively grabbed for her weapon and fired it aiming at his gut.

He recoiled looking down at where the blast should have been. He stared back up just as stunned as she was, the blast had not hit him.

Within a blink of an eye, he had faded away and she saw what she had actually hit. There was a gaping hole going through the side of the hut. She heard footsteps running a distance away, she followed them outside preparing herself for whatever came next.

She looked around not seeing him anywhere, strangely she was hearing sounds not of the island but like those on Starkiller Base. She couldn't understand what in the galaxy was going on.

She was standing almost in front of Luke's hut when she felt that same strange sensation and then she heard someone panting behind her. She turned and there he was again standing in front of her.

She felt anger boiling in her as she looked at his surprised face seeing the fresh scar that marked his eye and cheek. She had felt just as angry when she'd given him that.

If it wasn't for the darkness that was not only shown on the outside but that she also knew was on the inside, she could have thought him handsome like how Han must have looked when he was younger.

Kylo raised his hand then “You'll bring Luke Skywalker to me” he commanded, trying to use the Force to bend Rey to his will but failing miserably as it had no effect on her.

Rey just stood there staring daggers at him, he retracted his hand looking annoyed but still curious.

“You're not doing this. The effort would kill you” She didn't understand what he meant though, what did he think she was doing? He looked around seeing something she couldn't. “Can you see my surroundings?”

While Kylo was musings over how their connection had formed. All of Rey's thoughts were on the last time she saw Han and how she would never be able to say goodbye to him, because of the man standing in front of her.

“You're going to pay for what you did” she spat at him.

“I can't see yours, just you...” he said ignoring her anger and focusing on the mysterious circumstance they had found themselves in. His voice echoed in her ears strangely as he answered his own question. “So no. This is something else”

Kylo seemed to be fading as Rey heard a door open behind her.

“Luke...” she heard Kylo say as she turned to look at Luke coming out of his hut.

“What's that about?” Luke asked pointing to where Kylo had been standing.

But Kylo was gone and Rey saw what Luke was truly looking at.

She seemed to come out of a mist as she saw some foreign creature's yelling about the hole she had accidentally created in the hut. She couldn't figure out how she hadn't seen them before.

“I was cleaning my blaster. It went off” she said, making up an excuse for what had happened.

“Let's get started,” Luke said, accepting her answer and walking away up into the hills.

She chased after him still in a mess over her encounter with Kylo.

“Who were those things?” she asked Luke.

“Caretakers, island natives. They've kept up the Jedi structures since they were built”

“I don't think they like me,” she thought aloud, seeing how they had yelled at her.

“Can't imagine why” Luke muttered sarcastically

Luke led them up to the highest point of the island. As they did Rey couldn't help but wonder what she had experienced before when she'd seen Kylo. He hadn't really been there but a connection had been formed between them that neither could explain.

Although he had thought that she had connected them at first, maybe Jedi could do such things.

At the very top of the island was a cave and in the middle of it a shallow pool with a curious mosaic of a person on the bottom. Every so often a drop of water would fall from the ceiling creating ripples in the water.

Luke walked out onto a ledge with a large stone set in the center “So explain to me why the Jedi need to return” he asked as Rey followed him stopping at the edge of the cave mouth.

“Master Skywalker, we need the Jedi to return because Kylo Ren is strong with the dark side of the Force. Without the Jedi, we won't stand a chance against him,” she said not really knowing too much about what she was talking about, until a few days ago the Jedi had just been myths and stories to her.

“What do you know about the Force?”

Rey thought about that question, remembering when she had used a mind trick the stormtrooper and how she had summoned the lightsaber to her hand.

“It's a power that Jedi have that lets them control people and make things float,” she said uncertainty.

“Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong.” She was rather crestfallen, she was only guessing from what little knowledge she had. “Lesson one, sit here, legs crossed.” She went over and sat where he had asked her to, crossing her legs trying to get comfy.

“The Force is not a power you have. It's not about lifting rocks. It's the energy between all things, a tension, a balance, that binds the universe together” he explained but Rey was still slightly confused.

“Okay, but what is it?”

“Close your eyes, breathe,” he said understanding he would need to show her this part, as she did as she was told. “Now, reach out”

She stretched her hand out, waiting for something to happen. After a short time, something touched her hand.

“I feel something” she gasped excitedly.

“You feel it?” he asked

“Yes, I feel it” It was a weird sensation almost ticklish, she thought.

“That's the Force” he whispered

“Really?” she wondered, was it really that easy, maybe it was something to do with the island.

“Wow, it must be really strong with you”

“I've never felt any- Ow!” she yelped, something had smacked her hand. She opened her eyes, she had misunderstood his meaning, so he had been toying with her.

“You meant reach out like-” she said, gesturing to her chest to represent from within.

Luke quirked his head waiting for her expectantly.

“I'll try again,” she said closing her eyes again

He chucked away the leaf he had hit her with and took her hand, placing it on the stone next to her. “Breathe. Just breathe. Reach out with your feelings”

She took a moment just breathing in and out, letting her mind go blank.

“What do you see?”

Her mind was then filled by everything around, she filtered through it all starting big and working her way through.

“The island” she said, it looked so peaceful from above.

She delved lower seeing all the grass and flowers that grew there.

“Life”

Then beneath the earth, creatures that had lived on the island buried in dirt for a long time.

“Death and decay” She saw seedlings growing in the soil above, “That feeds new life”

The suns rays were beating down on the island as well.

“Warmth”

Then she felt the wind sweeping over the shore and the waves hitting the rocks below.

“Cold”

The wind flowed up onto the cliffs, where one of those pudgy bird's cradled it's young in its nest.

“Peace”

However, on the rocks below was a similar nest but there was no mother bird insight and the eggs inside were destroyed by the waves.

“Violence”

“And between it all?” Luke asked.

“Balance. An energy. A Force”

“And inside you?” he asked realizing she was understanding it all.

“Inside me, that same Force,” she said as though she was feeling her very essence.

“And this is the lesson. That Force does not belong to the Jedi. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies, is vanity. Can you feel that?”

Rey was only half-listening to him, she was searching for Luke's signature on the island. But curiously she couldn't find him. She searched harder looking deeper, where was he?

She found something then but it was not what she expected.

“There's something else, beneath the island. A place. A dark place” it scared her black tendrils seeped out a deep dark hole.

“Balance. Powerful light, powerful darkness,” he explained.

“Its cold” she whispered, it tempted her closer. “It's calling me!”

“Resist it Rey” he begged but he seemed too far away. She heard the voice of a woman beckoning her into the hole “Rey?”

She couldn't stop it from pulling her in, it had answers for her.

“Rey!” Luke called, as soon as she was above the hole, a jet of water came flying up at her and then she fell off the stone drenched in water.

“You went straight to the dark,” he said as crawled back up the stone panting wildly.

“That place was trying to show me something,” she said desperately.

“It offered something you needed and you didn't even try to stop yourself,” he said turning away in fear.

“But I didn't see you, nothing from you. You've closed yourself off from the Force. Of course you have” she said, only just realizing why Luke didn't know about Han's death or when his sister was in danger. He had rejected it all of those thoughts and feelings.

“I've seen this raw strength only once before, in Ben Solo. It didn't scare me enough then. It does now.” he said looking at her with a great amount of fear.

Rey watched him leave as she looked around the stone ledge, small bits of rock that hadn't been there before were scattered around and there was a large crack in the middle of the ledge.

She had done that she realized, trying to reach that dark place. She then knew it was far too dangerous to go to that place, no matter how tempting it was.


	17. The Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much to my besties for having faith in me when I don't.

Chapter 17 - The Mission

They were all gathered together in the secondary command bridge, Finn and Rose were on either side of Poe as they waited for Commander D'acy to speak.

“General Organa... Leia is unconscious but recovering”

After they had been attacked and jumped back into hyperspace, the medics had arrived and taken Leia away getting her stable while everyone else had gone to regroup and find out what the plan was.

“This is the only good news I have. Admiral Ackbar... All our leadership, they're gone”

“Oh dear, oh dear,” C3-PO said as a spatter of mutterings spread across the room.

“Leia was the sole survivor on the bridge. If she were here, she'd say save your sorrow for after the fight. To that end, the chain of command is clear as to who should take her place”

Poe perked up then looking hopefully the commander but was immediately disappointed “Vice Admiral Holdo of the cruiser Ninka”

Poe shuffled around awkwardly on his seat, he had been expecting a different choice.

“Thank you, Commander,” said a woman with purple hair who was wearing a long flowing grey dress, who must be the Vice Admiral. She stepped up to where D'acy had been standing with a gentle smile on her face.

“Four hundred of us on three ships. We are the very last of the Resistance” She said looking around at all of them as Poe stared at her, intently listening to what she had to say.

“But we're not alone. In every corner of the galaxy, the downtrodden and oppressed know our symbol and they put their hope in it. We are the spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic. That spark, this Resistance, must survive. That is our mission. Now, to your stations. And may the Force be you.”

Everyone started getting up and walking back to their stations, but Poe, Finn and Rose sat there for a moment. Poe leaned over to Rose, she still seemed very out of it, she was so lost in her grief.

He wished there was something more he could do to help her but the least he could do was try and take her mind off of it for a bit.

“That's Admiral Holdo? Battle of Chyron Belt, Admiral Holdo?” Rose nodded unconcernedly.

“Not what I expected,” he said getting to his feet.

“Why? Because she's a woman” Rose asked agitated as she and Finn walked after Poe.

He noted some of the fieriness Rose usually exhibited coming back.

“Rose when have you ever known me to be like that,” he said looking back at her while pushing his way through the crowds trying to catch up with Holdo “I just thought her speech was too meek. She needs to be gearing us up for the fight ahead but all she did was acting like everything is going to be ok. When really we have some serious problems on our hands”

“Poe, what are you doing?” Rose asked as Poe climbed some steps finally catching up with Holdo.

“Vice Admiral? Commander Dameron,” he said introducing himself while she completely ignored him. “We can't stay in hyperspace for too long and with the First Order now able to track us. When we do leave they will be right on our tail.”

“Very kind of you to make me aware,” she said mockingly.

“And we need to shake 'em before we find a new base, so what's our plan?”

“Our plan, Captain? Not Commander, right? Wasn't it Leia's last official act to demote you? Because of your dreadnought plan. Where we lost our entire bombing fleet?” Holdo said trying to belittle him.

She tried to walk away from him but Poe came up beside her to continue his conversion with her.

“Captain, Commander. You can call me whatever you like. I just want to know what's going on?”

“Of course you do. I understand. I've dealt with plenty of trigger-happy flyboys like you. You're impulsive, dangerous and the last thing we need right now.”

Poe looked round at Rose and Finn who were lurking behind him. Rose was giving him a look which said 'she has a point', while Finn looked on incredibly anxiously.

By the time he had turned back to Holdo she had already gone, walking off the bridge and down the corridor.

He followed after her as she made her away to Leia's quarters. She didn't try to stop them as the three of them entering the room after her.

They all looked over at Leia's unconscious form in her bed, a diagnostic bubble over her head displaying her vital signs, which seemed to show she was stable and recovering.

Holdo was stood by Leia's bedside, her hand over Leia's. When she spoke her voice no longer sounded harsh but sad.

“Many years ago, Leia was my mentor just like she is yours now. I have always trusted her judgment, it has never led me astray. So just this once I will listen to you but do not expect me to trust you”

“You don't have to trust me, you just have to let me help. Now we need to figure out a way to get away, without the First Order tracking us” He said turning to look at the other two. Rose looked to be thinking hard as she chewed on her fingernail.

“I did not wish to say this out in the open but isn't it also possible that we could have a spy on board leaking our whereabouts to the First Order. While hyperspace tracking is a possible theory, I think we have to consider other avenues as well” Holdo said glaring directing at Finn, making him squirm under her gaze.

“Who would do that?” Poe asked he couldn't imagine anyone onboard betraying them.

Holdo opened her mouth to speak but Rose spoke up before she could. “No! Don't even suggest it. Finn's done nothing but help us.”

Poe did a double-take “Wait, What! You think...” he was outraged, they may have only known him a short time but he couldn't picture his life without Finn in it, from the moment he met him he felt connected to him in some mysterious way. “I can't believe you think Finn had something to do with this, I'd trust him with my life”

Holdo bristled under the attack against her and stared directly at Finn “I'm sorry but a few days ago you were a First Order soldier, a stormtrooper.”

“Not by choice, that's why I escaped. All I want to do is help my friends” Finn said confidently as Poe smiled at him.

“Explain this to me then, young man. What is that on your wrist?”

They all stared at Finn while he took the binary beacon off his wrist.

“That was Leia's,” Poe said worriedly.

“Okay I know this looks bad, but when Leia was taken away by the medics it fell off her wrist I took it to keep it safe. This is Rey's one way of finding us and I didn't want her to come back and be put straight into danger. If worse came to worst I was going to use an escape pod and make sure she was safe.”

“Oh, Finn” Poe sighed “I know you meant well but wish you would believe me when I say we're in this together, no more trying to run away ok?”

Finn nodded knowing Poe was right. “I'm sorry”

Holdo had turned her back to them muttering “Are they expecting me to trust them now?”

Rose was shaking with anger, tears rolling down her face.

“My sister just died protecting the fleet, we're meant to be helping each other not fighting each other” Rose dissolved into tears then, it seemed her grief had truly hit her at that moment.

Poe went over to her and enveloped her in a hug as she cried into his shoulder.

“Miss Tico, I am very sorry about your loss but this here isn't going to help anyone. So unless you have a plan to prove we are being tracked-”

“Active tracking” Rose whispered breaking out of Poe's hug.

“What now?” Finn asked looking curiously at her.

“Hyperspace tracking must be new tech but the principle must be the same as any active tracker so-”

“They're only tracking us from the lead ship” Finn and Rose finished together as she went over to stand in front of him, a small smile on her face and a gleam of hope in her eyes.

“But we can't get to the tracker, it's an A-class process they'll control it from the main bridge,” Rose said stumped.

“Well I mean yes but every A-class process-”

“Has a dedicated power breaker.” They said together beaming at each other.

“But who knows where the breaker room is on a star destroyer?” she asked as Finn leaned closer to her.

“The guy who used to mop it, If I can get us there”

“We can shut their tracker down,” she said excitedly

Poe coughed moodily. “Can you run that by us again?” he said gesturing to himself and Holdo, Poe had gotten lost very quickly it was like they were talking a foreign language.

“So the First Order is only tracking us from one Destroyer, the lead one” Finn explained.

“So we blow that one up” Poe surmised.

“I like where your head's at, but no. They'd only start tracking us from another destroyer. But if we sneak on board the lead Destroyer and disable the tracker without them realizing-”

“They won't realize it's off for one system cycle. About six minutes.” Rose interjected

“We need to lay a trap for them. Once we've snuck on board their ship, the fleet can drop out of hyperspace and cause a distraction until we have disabled the tracker. Then we'll escape before they even realize.”

“And you expect me to agree to this?” Holdo said. Poe had almost forgotten she was there.

“You will when you realize it means getting me out from under your feet” Holdo gave him a quizzical look. “Finn and I will shut the tracker down. I suspect you're already coming up with a plan you don't want to let slip yet, which Rose would be happy to help you with I'm sure. Give us a chance to get out of this undetected. No one else need die if our plan works”

Poe looked towards Rose hoping he'd said the right thing, She gave him a small smile and he knew the answer.

“Luckily Captain Dameron, your plans align with my own. So I will agree to this, under one condition Leia's beacon does not leave this ship”

They all looked back at Finn, who was twiddling the beacon in his fingers. He handed it to Rose silently, a worried look on his face. Poe turned back to Holdo then.

“Good,” Poe said and then he got to work setting up the plan, so they were ready to leave. “Rose can you be ready to jump to lightspeed as soon as we've disabled the tracker”

“I'll be ready,” she said seeming a lot more like herself, she was concentrating her grief into the new mission. “The question is how do we sneak the two of you onto Snoke's destroyer”

“We'll steal clearance codes” Poe suggested

“No, they're bio-hexacrypt and rescrambled every hour. I don't know a way to sneak through their security shields undetected” Finn said annoyed.

“We may not need to sneak on board if we can get ourselves smuggled on. And I know just the person to speak to” Poe headed to the corner of the room, where Leia's private call terminal was and he hit a few buttons on the console.

It took a few tries but then it connected and Maz Kanata appeared on the screen in front of them. She seemed to be in a fight as blaster fire was going off everywhere around her and it looked like she was wearing a jetpack as well.

“Maz, we're in a bit of trouble,” Poe said trying to speak loud enough to be heard over the noise on Maz's end.

“You're not the only one!” she shouted.

“We need some help getting onto the Supremacy. Could you get us there?” he asked

“Could I do it? Of course, I could do it. But I can't do it. I'm a little tied up right down right now”

“Maz, what is happening?” Finn asked

“Trading dispute, but I don't think you want to hear about my taxes” she explained, just as a blast went flying past nearly hitting her. Poe lit up with an idea then.

“Maz, what about him?”

“Him? Oh him... You'll have a hard time convincing that one” she said, firing blasts into the chaos they could not see.

“You know where he is though?”

“Yes!” she yelled trying to fixing her jammed blaster “Last I heard he was in the casino on Canto Bight”

“Oh no, it had to be there didn't it” Poe groaned.

“Sorry kiddo. Hope you get yourselves out of your mess, I need to go take care of mine” she said before engaging her jet pack and flying away, then the screen disappeared.

“Well it looks like we're going to Canto Bight” he grimaced.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone still reading this xxx


	18. Monster in the Rain

Chapter 18 – Monster in the Rain

It was midday on the island and Rey was sheltering inside the Falcon. It had become overcast and windy as she had made her way back from her first lesson with Luke. He had locked himself in his hut again.

She thought it best to give him some time to cool off. So she headed for the Falcon to see if Chewie had heard from the Resistance yet. Rey put her poncho on just as a heavy downpour of rain started.

Once onboard the ship, she headed for the cockpit, Chewie was sitting in his seat, his headset on as he tried to get through to their friends.

“Still can't reach the Resistance,” She asked, Chewie groaned frustratedly in answer. She was getting worried, what if they weren't answering because they were in trouble? “Keep at it. If you get through, check their status and ask about Finn”

She hoped Finn was ok and Poe too but she needed to know what was happening. If they didn't get any word from them by sunset, then she would have no choice but to take drastic measures.

She walked out of the cockpit, Chewie roaring as she did those pesky little birds from the island had decided to make a home on board the ship and were causing the Wookie a lot of grief.

Rey went back outside curious to see the rain pour while she sheltered under the Falcon. She stretched her hand out feeling the rain pool in her hand. She smiled there was something so wondrous about a new feeling, a new sight.

She took her hand away shaking the water off, she stepped closer to the edge of the island as small waves washed over the rocks in front of her.

Just then the sounds around her changed no longer the sound of rain and winds but other than a faint buzzing just silence. That same aura from earlier in that day surrounded her again. She was staring at the ocean one moment and then there he was again, Kylo.

He turned around to look at her, she couldn't help but gasp as he looked at her so intensely.

“Why is the Force connecting us? You and I” he asked. Anger built up in her once more, she couldn't help but see a glimpse of Han on his hateful face. She didn't care why the Force was connecting them, if he had to be in her presence she might as well rub it in that he had failed.

“Murderous snake” she yelled her words spilling out far too quickly. “You're too late. You lost. I found Skywalker.”

He looked at her shaken by her words, she thought he looked almost broken but still curious to know what she knew.

“Did he tell you what happened? The night I destroyed his temple, did he tell you why?” he said stepping closer to her.

Luke hadn't said a word about it but nothing Kylo could say could change her mind.

“I know everything I need to know about you” she shouted wishing he would shut up.

“You do?” he asked softly as he stared directly into her eyes. She didn't want to seem weak, so she gritted her teeth and kept eye contact no matter how much she wanted to look away. “Ah, you do. You have that look in your eyes. From the forest. When you called me a monster”

“You are a monster!”

He came even closer to her, his eye not leaving hers. His eyes were deep black pools and she had been staring into them for far too long, she felt her tummy flutter in a way she had never felt before.

“Yes I am” he acknowledged.

She was shocked by what he had said, he seemed to know what he had done was wrong but he made no attempt to stop the heinous acts he committed. He was such a complicated man and impossible for her to decipher.

And then he was gone, he had disappeared the moment another wave crested over the edge. Water sprayed her face as she noted how fast her heart was pounding.

She hated the effect he had on her, it agitated her immensely. Every time she saw Kylo it sent so much anger through her filling her up. He was right about one thing though, she did feel like she had in the forest and all of that pent up rage must have shown on her face.

She really needed to do something to blow off some steam, as she was musing the storm had blown itself out leaving just cloudy skies above.

Rey walked back up to the hut, she had stayed in the previous night. She took off her poncho and laid it on the bench, then grabbed her staff and bag which she had left in there the night before.

She then went outside and started to hike up one of the hills looking for a quiet place she could practice with her staff.

***

Ren was sat in the study aboard the Supremacy, he'd gone there after overseeing the preparations for the next attack once the Resistance stopped hiding in hyperspace.

In the meantime, he had decided to occupy his mind with some writing. He sat at a desk translating the ancient language of Sith from an old tomb, the symbols faded on the pages.

He read them with ease, writing them down using his calligraphy set. His mother had given him his first set just before he left for Luke's temple, she had hoped he would write to her. He'd taken to the skill like a duck to water but he never really wrote to her.

He didn't have much to tell her, and he never wanted to worry her about the voices and the dreams.

While he was at the temple he would mostly just write nonsense, just scribbles for himself or sometimes about his dreams, the girl's voice. He was sure that it was Rey's voice.

There seemed to be a connection that had formed between the pair a long time ago and it only grew once they had met. He wondered if she had dreamt of him as he had with her.

He was gliding his pen along his page, trying to decipher a paragraph of writing on ancient ways of the Force. He hoped to find something useful inside concerning the unusual occurrences between himself and Rey.

She may want to continue shouting at him and trying to attack him, but he wished to know more, the whys, the hows. She gave him a strange hope that he didn't have to be alone anymore, that he could even find some peace away from the darkness.

Even if Rey did hate him, she had every right to. He had kidnapped her, imprisoned her, attacked her on multiple occasions and entered her mind. He'd done it all for Snoke because he was the only person left he thought Snoke had believed in him.

But their last conversation had made him doubt, made him feel weak and unwanted. Just like how Rey was stuck with him.

But the Force had led him to Rey, maybe they were more alike than they both thought.

Ren's quill went skidding across his page then leaving a large inkblot. The sound of waves had crashed into his ears.

He looked up and Rey was there in the study, holding her staff in attack position looking at the bookcase in front of her. He knew that she wasn't really there and what she was glaring at wasn't a bookcase.

She swung the staff above her head and swiftly twisted it until it came close to hitting the bookcase but stopped inches away. She was so focused on her training she didn't seem to know he was there.

He felt awkward watching her swing the staff, again and again, so he tried to go back to his writing, desperately trying not to sneak a peek at her.

He'd barely translated the word 'attachments' when out of the corner of his eye he saw her stop, breathing deeply while leaning on her staff.

She put her staff down and picked up something else he couldn't see until she had stood back up. The lightsaber. She ignited it and just stared at it for a moment and then gently glided it through the air getting a feel for it once more.

Ren was struggling to do any of his work, there were more ink blots on the page than there were words. Rey was so mesmerizing as she gracefully moved the saber from one side of the bookcase to the other.

He was surprised by how fast a learner she was. She was able to master skills that it had taken him months to do in his youth. Maybe it had something to do with her other skills but that couldn't be all, there was definitely something else.

She twisted the saber through her hand smiling, Ren couldn't help but be happy that she was enjoying her newfound power. He had once been the same but not for long, a heavyweight had been set upon him, a legacy to fulfill.

He tried to continue his work as Rey slashed through the air again and again. He translated some more of the words not really focusing on the meaning of what they said.

While he wasn't paying much attention to what he wrote, he was honestly feeling so content in Rey's presence as he enjoyed writing in his calligraphy style. Snoke would have hated it, he thought Ren's enjoyment with the art was a weakness and forbade him to do it any longer.

But in Ren's opinion, it was alright to have one weakness, so he simply hid his set away never letting Snoke know.

She was increasing her speed with each swing of the saber, pushing herself further and further until she swung around and she was distracted by something high above seemingly in the distance. She ended up slicing straight through the bookcase.

He stood up in shock expecting to see the bookcase fall apart, but nothing had happened to it. He did however hear rocks crumbling as Rey stumbled back. She walked forward as quickly as she could and looked down at someone below, who was invisible to him. She looked incredibly guilty as she deactivated the saber.

She turned to look back at whatever it was that had disturbed her. He suspected it was Luke but he thought it curious that he couldn't sense him at all. He knew he could sense those where Rey was because he'd sensed the creatures that Rey had annoyed and Rey herself, but nothing else.

He felt a sudden urge to say something to her and he did before he could stop himself he coughed quietly.

“You need a little bit more focus and control when using a lightsaber,” he said awkwardly.

She jumped only just noticing he was there “What?” she said confused.

“You lost control when you got distracted, you need to learn how to know what you want your saber to do before you do it. And then if you get distracted you should still be able to complete your move” He explained strangely enjoying teaching her some tips and tricks.

She looked away from him gritting her teeth, she looked annoyed at him. “I don't remember asking for your advice”

Then she grabbed her bag and staff and walked away, disappearing without a trace from the study.

Ren sighed, she was determined to be his enemies no matter how much he wished to help her. He looked down at the table in front of him seeing the mess he had made, his ink had spilt everywhere and the page he was writing on was ruined. He sighed once more, closing the book he was translating and then dumped everything else but his quill in the trash.

He was just about to leave the room, book and quill in hand when he noticed the other side of the bookcase had a small burn mark on it. It seemed something in their connection had transferred over, just like the last time when he had felt water on his face from a wave.

He really wanted to know more about their connection but all he could think of was Rey's smile as he twiddled his quill between his fingers. His one weakness, he thought staring at the quill, two weaknesses couldn't hurt any more than one. _Could it?_

***

Rey had already seen Kylo too many times than that day, she never wished to see him again let alone three times in one day. She especially didn't want to see him when she had just embarrassed herself thoroughly.

She wondered how long he had been watching her for, she had felt the air change around but she thought it was just because she was training. And what was it with him trying to give her advice? Had he been serious when he said he wanted to train her in the ways of the Force.

She was following Luke back up to the clifftop at that moment, she hadn't been expecting him to come out of his hiding spot so soon. So when she saw him high above her at the top of the steps, it had stunned her.

And she had absolutely mortified herself and once again gotten on the bad side of the caretakers of the island. By accidentally launching a boulder at their cart and sending it flying into the sea. They had looked up at her in disgust as she tried to retreat quickly.

When the reached the top, Luke stopped when he reached the further side of the cavern, Rey stood in the entrance of the cavern as Luke spoke.

“Lesson two. Now that they're extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure, hypocrisy, hubris.” He said sitting down at the edge of the shallow pool in the center of the cavern.

“That's not true,” Rey said defiantly, stepping closerto him, she knew they had made some mistake but those who were smart enough had tried to make a difference.

“At the height of their powers, they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader”

She knew he was right, the Jedi wanted peace but it had blinded them to the idea war could be on the horizon. The Emperor was clever and he manipulated a man desperate to save the one he loved, but love had freed him in the end.

“And a Jedi who saved him.” She said making her way to sit down next to Luke “Yes the most hated man in the galaxy. But you saw there was conflict inside him. You believed that he wasn't gone. That he could be turned.”

“And I became a legend. For many years, there was balance and then I saw Ben. My nephew with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him, I could pass on my strengths. Han was Han about it.” He said rolling his eyes as Rey smiled knowing exactly what he meant “But Leia... trusted me with her son. I took him, and a dozen students and began a training temple.”

He stood up seemingly not able to tell her this part of the story while looking at her. “By the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late”

“What happened?” she asked

“I went to confront him and he turned on me. He must have thought I was dead. When I came to the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students and slaughtered the rest.” Rey felt like she could picture the scene in her mind's eye. Luke screaming _no_ as Ben tried to crush him under rumble. And then Luke watching his temple burn as he clutched onto R2 for support. She'd seen something similar in the basement of Maz's bar when she touched Luke's saber “Leia blamed Snoke, but it was me. I failed. Because I was Luke Skywalker, Jedi master, a legend.”

He turned around to look at her, tears in his eyes. She understood why he had fled, he blamed himself for the fall of Ben Solo. He thought he should have been able to recognise the darkness growing inside the boy but the man who had pulled Darth Vader out of the darkness couldn't stop his own nephew from falling too.

He was guilty and he didn't think he deserved his place in history. However from what Rey could see Luke had tried his best, but if Ben couldn't understand the difference between light and dark then it was his own fault.

Rey knew the difference though, what she didn't know though was everything that Luke could teach her, if he wanted to.

“The galaxy may need a legend. I need someone to show me my place in all this.” She said standing up she wanted to make Luke realize that he was far better than he thought. “And you didn't fail Kylo. Kylo failed you. I won't.”

The suns had been setting throughout their conversation and it was beginning to grow dark. Luke had just stared at the ground for a long time trying to hold back tears until he decided to walk away from her once again.

Rey didn't try to stop him from going, she was used to him needing his space. He would come and find her when he was ready and then they would have their third and final lesson.

She waited a while before leaving the cavern, watching the ripples in the shallow pool. As she walked down the hill she got to thinking about everything she had learnt.

Luke wanted the Jedi to end but Rey's thought is possible for the Jedi to return but only if they moved on from the past and changed their ways, she didn't know how yet but she was determined to find away.

And then there was Kylo, Luke had tried to help and he had turned on him. He had left his family and was hated across the galaxy, that stirred something in her mind then. Hadn't she said earlier that Darth Vader was the most hated man in the galaxy but there had still been hope for him after everything.

Rey knew how much Leia wanted her son back, was it possible that a part of that boy still lived inside Kylo Ren. She believed something was missing in the story of Kylo, he knew he was a monster and he didn't like it, maybe there was a chance for him. She had to try, for Leia if they did connect again which was likely then she would ask him. She had to understand the truth behind his decisions.

At that moment though what she needed to do was find out how her friends were so she headed to the Falcon, to ask Chewie for any news.

“Any word from them Chewie?” she asked him hopefully when she found him outside the Falcon doing something inside one of the maintenance hatches.

Chewie groaned sadly, no communication from them at all, he thought it might have been the ship's transmitter but everything seemed fine.

Rey was getting extremely worried, they were in trouble she just knew it. She had to do something.

“Chewie, something is wrong and I need you to find out what. I want you to go to the base and see if they're still there. If they aren't then see if you can find out their location, I know you have your sources. And try and find out where the First Order's main fleet is, might be the First Order could know more than we do at this point”

Chewie moaned in protest, worried out Rey's safety and way off the island.

“Don't worry about me. I'll stay in the village and R2 can keep me company. I'm making progress with Luke but I'm sure you'll have found out where the Resistance is by the time he's even close to coming with us.”

Chewie groaned some more still not sure

“Chewie, I know you're as worried about them as I am. And if it makes you feel better I'll keep my communicator on me at all times. If I need you I will let you know. Okay?”

He grumbled, finally agreeing to her demands. Soon after he was off, flying away in the Falcon leaving Rey and R2 on the cliffside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone still reading this xxx


	19. The Smuggler

Chapter 19 – The Smuggler

Finn, Poe and BB-8 were in a shuttle ready to depart, it was going to be a rough take off. They were going to have to leave the ship while it was still in hyperspace.

It was not unheard of, Poe remembered Jacen Syndulla telling him about some of his father, Kanan's adventures with the Phoenix Squadron. And how they had pulled off a similar manoeuvre. Jacen and Poe had been friends back on Yavin 4 in their youth.

He wondered where Jacen was at that moment, probably off having some crazy adventures. That was Poe's plan after the war was over and hopefully he would have some company on his travels, he thought smiling at Finn who was in the copilot seat.

“You ready?” Poe asked him as he prepared the shuttle.

“As I'll ever be” Finn chuckled, unsure about what they were about to do. “Have you ever done this before?”

“Nope. But there's a first time for everything” he said knowing how risky their plan was but it was the only way for them to get off the ship and travel to Canto Bight.

“Here goes nothing then” he said then he spoke into the communicator Rose had given to him. “Rose, we're ready”

“Okay, I've got Kaydel running interference if anyone asks where you guys are. Holdo is still paranoid about a spy onboard. Right I'm all set up, just like we planned it. Be careful and good luck guys”

“Thanks Rose. We'll contact you as soon as we can” Poe said, starting up the engines.

“Okay opening the hatch, now!” Rose called out.

They were propelled forward as the vacuum of space pulled them out. The shuttle rocketed around Poe lost his grip on the controls as the G force hit them. He desperately reached for the controls as they spun around wildly. The shuttle started to glow, blinding them as they started to re-enter space from lightspeed.

They were being tossed about as Poe stretched out as far as he could while he and Finn were being forced back into their seats and BB-8 was using his cables to latch himself to the walls of the shuttle. He used all his might to grab a hold of the controls and not let go.

He pulled up and stopped them from being swung all over the place. When they finally came to a stop, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

“Phew... that was close” Poe said.

“We made it...” Finn breathed out sagging into his chair.

“Yeah we did, now all we have to do is go to the hell that is Canto Bight, sneak on board a supreme star destroyer and then shut down a very complex tracker, should be easy.”

Poe engaged the thrusters and set a course for Canto Bight. “So from our current position we are quite close to Canto Bight, we should be there within the hour” he said thanking their lucky stars they were so close.

“Great. Is this place really as bad as you lot are saying it is?” Finn asked remembering how Rose had warned him about the casino town before they left.

_'Don't get caught up in the facade of the place it's not what it seems'_

“Yes” Poe said no doubt in his voice “It's a terrible place filled with the worst people in the galaxy”

“And we're getting help from someone there?” he said confused.

“Hopefully”

They flew for sometime in silence, Poe kept on trying to come up with things but everything he thought of sounded stupid to him.

While Finn was wondering who they were going to meet but he didn't ask if Poe wanted to tell him who he would have done and he would find out when they reached Canto Bight.

Poe was right about the planet not being too far away not too much time later they could see an orange planet in the distance.

“Right, let's get in and out as soon as possible,” Poe said preparing for their descent as they got closer.

They entered the atmosphere and Finn watched as they flew over a giant waterfall and beyond was a town illuminated by glittering lights. He thought the place looked amazing, how could it be that terrible?

They went around the side of the town and found a spot above the town with tall grass to land and hide the shuttle in.

Once they were out of the shuttle, they pushed their way through the long grass making their way into town.

They certainly didn't fit in with the people of Canto Bight, they all seemed to be wearing fine gowns and smart suits. While Finn and Poe were wearing grass stained resistance outfits, they stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Okay, when we get into the casino let me do the talking. My friend has become a bit prickly in their old age” Poe said taking them down a cobbled side street.

“So how do we find this person then” Finn asked as they neared the casino.

“We just need to look for the highest stakes Sabacc table and our guy will be there”

They went from peaceful streets outside to a very loud and busy casino. Music played and chips fell, while the champagne flowed and the dice rolled in the long golden room. Finn was in awe of the place, it looked like so much fun.

BB-8 beeped excited seeing exactly who they were looking for. He sped forward and the boys followed him through the long hall of the casino to the end. Where a section was partitioned off by long red curtains and a velvet rope.

There was a large table in the middle of the area and the men around it were playing a game of Sabacc. Poe looked at them all and knew the moment he saw a silver grey cape draped across the back of one of the chairs he'd found his man.

The man in question had his back to them. Poe tried to get past the rope but the guard at the rope stopped him, so instead he called out the man.

“Gotta a good hand there Lando” The man turned around to look at him with a smirk on his face.

Lando Calrissian, a bit more lined then when Poe had last seen him, but he was still his charismatic self.

“Poe Dameron, is that really you, little rebel?” Lando said as Poe smiled at the use of his old nickname. He waved to the guard to let Poe and Finn through. Poe sat down in the chair next to Lando while Finn stood at his side “Who's your friend?”

“This is Finn” Poe said smiling widely

“Nice to meet you young man” Lando said holding out his hand for Finn to shake.

“It's an honour to meet you sir” Finn said shaking his hand.

“So what brings you to a place like this?” Lando asked

“Well actually we came here to ask you for your help”

“My help! My boy, the days of General Calrissian is long behind me”

“What are you talking about, sir?” Poe said staring at the older man confusedly.

“Poe, I'm out of the war business. I am enjoying my retirement”

“Why Lando? I don't understand”

Lando put his cards down and the rest of the table collectively groaned. He'd won the hand and collected his winnings.

Then he got up from the table and walked over a balcony at the end of the room, Poe and Finn following behind him. Outside was a large track with some creatures galloping down it.

“Are those Fathiers?” Poe asked excitedly, they were amazing creatures that he had always longed to see one of the incredibly fast animals.

“Yes, they're beautiful and so is this whole place. But you know the truth, don't you Poe?”

“I know. All you have to do is look a bit closer.” Poe said sadly looking towards Finn directing him to look into the viewfinder on the balcony.

He moved to look closer at the beasts, the jockeys were getting them to run faster by electrocuting them. In the center of the track one of the trainers was whipping a Fathier. Three little children stood behind the man trying to stop the man from hurting the creature. But they were no match for the man.

“How do they get away with this?” Finn asked unable to believe what he was seeing.

“Obvious isn't it, if you have enough money you can get anything. And there's only one business in the galaxy that'll get you this rich. Or if your an amazingly good Sabacc player like myself” Lando explained

“War” Finn said

“Selling weapons to the First Order” Poe knew all too well.

“Not just First Order, the Resistance as well, there's no profit in only working one side. I learnt a long time ago, that good and bad are never that simple, people will always look out for themselves no matter how many people get hurt”

“I still don't understand why you won't help us?” Poe said

“As much as I'd like to Poe, I've learnt its best to stay out of other people's problems”

“The Resistance is in danger and we need to get aboard Snoke's destroyer and you won't help” Finn said angrily as Poe closed his eyes wishing Finn hadn't said that “I haven't been with them long but I know more than anyone the First Order cannot win”

“The Empire couldn't win either and they didn't in the end, but then the First Order rose and the cycle began again. You win, they win, it goes on and on.”

“What happened to you Lando? You're not the man I remember” Poe asked getting angry at Lando's attitude as well.

“What happens to everyone in the end my boy, Love. I saw what Han and Leia had and I wanted to know what it was like. And I found someone wonderful, truly extraordinary, we had a child, a beautiful baby boy. We were happy but then I went off to help Luke for a while and when I got back home, my dear love had up and left without a trace, with our son. I never saw them again, no idea what happened to them.”

Finn and Poe looked at each other not knowing what to say.

“After that I put all my efforts into helping Luke but we couldn't find what we were looking for. And then Luke disappeared and that's when I realised the only one I could help was myself”

Finn stepped right in front of Lando and spoke before Poe could stop him.

“Sir, I'll never be able to understand your pain, but I know if Han or Leia could have been here you would have helped them and right now Leia is in danger. And I know you can help us in some way”

“Leia's in danger... And Han?” he asked.

Poe shook his head unable to say the words, while Lando looked like he was trying to hold back tears. 

“Alright one last favour, but trust me you'll regret it. No good ever comes from me” Lando said grabbing something out of one of his pockets and holding up an oddly shaped coin to them.

“That's a First Order Captain's medallion, how did you get one of those?” Poe said not believing what he was seeing.

“A good hand and a stupid Captain” he said a small smirk on his face. “Free passage through any blockade. Landing privileges, any vessel. This should get you where you need to go”

“Thank you Sir” Finn said as Poe took the medallion from Lando “I know you make think all hope is lost, but believe me when I say that good always wins in the end and I hope you find a way back to helping us more one day”

Lando looked at Finn curiously but then a commotion in the Casino distracted them. The room they were in had emptied since they were on the balcony, the three of them went to peek around the curtains to see what was happening and what they saw made Finn and Poe's stomachs drop, First Order troops entering the Casino.

Poe cursed under his breath, they must have tracked them when they left hyperspace. He’d been an idiot.

“Looks like we have company” Lando said spotting two First Order troopers headed their way “Well boys looks like this is where we part ways”

“Any chance you know a way out of here” Poe asked while Lando rolled his eyes.

He walked away the boys following him, he bent down lifting the cloth on the Sabacc table to see a vent cover on the floor.

Finn crawled under the table removing the cover and hopping down into the shaft.

“Thanks Lando we really appreciate it”

“No problem Poe, now get going. And keep that young man of yours safe” Lando said winking while urging Poe to head under the table. Poe thought he had noticed something he hadn’t seen on Lando’s face in a long time, hope.

“Poe!” Finn whispered urgently from the shaft and Poe hurried under the table and down into a dark tunnel.

They followed the tunnel down as they heard Lando say something unintelligible, probably to the stormtroopers trying to find them. Further down the tunnel a foul stench hit them, getting worse with each step.

“What is that?” Finn complained holding his nose.

“If I had to guess Fathiers” Poe said as he looked up seeing a small amount of light above and directed Finn’s attention to it. “Our way out I think”

Finn gave him a boost and he pushed the cover off to see the stables, only for him to shut it incredible quickly when the thunder of hooves came into the stables.

He and Finn toppled over as the Fathiers returned to their stables. They waited until everything went quiet again then boosted each other up.

“Right then, how do we get out of here?” Finn said and then he jumped back in fear as the Fathiers poked their heads over their stables.

Poe went straight up to one of them beaming, an idea forming in his head. “I think I know a way out of here”

He pressed the button to open the stable and inside of it was a young boy sitting by the creature. He stood quickly to raise the alarm.

“No wait, please don't,” Poe begged stepping towards the boy.

His finger was an inch away from the button when he paused.

Poe removed his resistance ring from his finger and showed the hidden symbol inside.

“We’re with the Resistance” he said and the boy looked at him in awe. “We need your help”

Soon enough Poe and Finn were strapped in on top of one the Fathiers, that’s when they heard stormtroopers coming their way.

The young boy opened up all the stables and the shutter, letting not just Poe and Finn’s Fathier go but all the others as well.

Poe cheered as they all raced out heading down the track.

“Are you enjoying this?” Finn asked surprised, then a spotlight came from ships above them and Poe veered them off to the right, heading through a topiary garden and then straight into the casino.

They smack the window coming through and destroyed everything in sight, tables went flying over, and coins were sent everywhere. The Fathiers were that strong they were able to break through solid walls.

They made it to one of the side streets and ended up crushing all the fancy speeders parked along there.

Unfortunately when they had come out of the casino the ships following them had found them again.

“We need cover” Finn shouted and then without warning the Fathier took them down a tight alleyway with lights strung up at the top, which hit them in the head and almost strangled them.

“Too much cover” Poe screamed as they crashed through another window and then leapt over a wall onto the beach.

They hurtled along the beach, the rest of the herd following behind them.

Poe looked ahead and saw that they were heading towards a dead end, the Fathiers had taken them the wrong way. He tried to stop the beast from going head first into a cliff but there was no stopping them.

Both men screamed as the beasts then galloped straight up the cliff and up to the tall grass on top.

The ships above were still following them but not as easily through the tall grass, they managed to part from the rest of the herd and the ships followed after the herd and not them.

“We lost them” Finn cheered “Now we just need to get back to the shuttle”

“Cliff!” Poe screamed as the Fathier roared while trying to slow itself down but falling over and knocking them off right near the edge of the cliff. They were both panting trying to get to their feet, the Fathier had already gotten up and was looking at Poe.

Poe released the beast from its saddle and it went running off to its fellows while Poe and Finn searched in a panic for their shuttle. After a few minutes they found it and snuck on board without the other ships seeing them.

They went straight to the cockpit and started up the engines wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

By the time the other ships saw them it was too late and Poe and Finn zoomed off into hyperspace.

Poe breathed a sigh of relief and then looked to Finn, who seemed lost in thought.

“Even though that was a pretty terrifying adventure I have to admit, it felt like justice, tearing up that town.” Poe said bring Finn out of his reverie.

“Yeah making them pay did feel pretty great” he smiled.


	20. Reaching Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Half... way... there... thank... you... besties
> 
> And everyone else thank you too.

Chapter 20 – Reaching Out

It wasn't long after sunset that Luke came to find Rey. She was in her hut building a fire as the night started to get colder when Luke moved aside the curtain on the entrance. He didn't say anything just looked at her and then walked away.

She followed him down to the coast, ready to prove herself after their last lesson. He stopped at the edge of the island and watched the waves while Rey caught up with him.

“So now you understand what the Force is, I want you to try and use it,” he said turning around to face her and then pointing at a pile of smooth rocks by the cliffs. “You talked about moving rocks early, try.”

“Okay,” Rey said shaking her hands at the sides and letting out a deep breath to prepare herself.

She stretched her hand out and willed the rocks to move but nothing happened.

“I don't have all night you know,” Luke said sarcastically.

“I'm trying,” she said not amused.

“Do or do not, there is no try.”

“Why are you talking in riddles now?” she said getting annoyed as the rocks still did not move.

“It's not a riddle, it's what my Jedi master told me in my training”

“What does it mean though?” she said giving up on trying to move the rocks for a moment and turning to look at Luke.

“That did take me some time to figure out, at first I thought it meant I was bound to fail if I wasn't certain I could do something. But I soon learned that I just needed to believe in myself, commit to the action and it will happen”

“Okay, I'll go again,” she said moving her attention back to the rocks. She closed her eyes and focused on sensing the Force that flowed through the rock imagining them being lifted into the air, believing she could do it.

“Good,” Luke said mildly surprised.

Rey opened her eyes and smiled, four of the rocks had started floating in mid-air. She moved her hand up and twirled her fingers and the rocks started spinning in a circle.

She moved the small rocks this way and that, feeling fully in control of the powers for once.

“Having fun?” Luke asked, "You wouldn't be able to, say if your friends lives were on the line.”

Suddenly the rocks fell out of Rey's control and straight to the ground. She turned to look back at Luke in a fury.

“Why do you keep being like this?” she said her temper rising “Why did you say you'd teach me if all you want to do is taunt me”

“You're the one who asked me to teach you but why?”

“I'm here to help the Resistance but you've just got me moving rocks around, what just to waste time!” She yelled.

“It's the exact way the Jedi would have taught you. Their teachings have always been about waiting until you're ready. But really you will never be ready until you go out there and join the fight”

“So everything I've been doing here is pointless according to you,” she said.

“Well, you came here looking for something that doesn't exist anymore. The legendary Luke Skywalker and the Jedi religion, they're both husks now.”

“I don't believe that and neither do you. The truth is you're just afraid to go back and face your mistakes”

“Oh really, I don't think I'm the only one who doesn't want to go back. You could have left as soon as you realised I wasn't going back, but you didn't because you can't leave without me.”

“Yes because the Resistance needs you”

“No the Resistance needs you, you're perfectly capable of taking care of these problems. The power inside you is more than enough to face the First Order. As you told me yourself you're afraid, but not of how to use your powers though. You've always known what to do, you're just afraid to use them afraid someone will get hurt.”

Rey didn't know how to react to that statement but it was probably more true than she would like to admit.

“Fine, as soon as Chewie gets back I'm gone if you won't help I guess I'll have to do it myself.” She said walking away from him only to turn back and start yelling at him tears in her eyes “You know that old legend of Luke Skywalker that you hate so much, I believed in it. I was wrong. Let's just hope Chewie doesn't come back to tell us their in danger or worse dead, not that you would care, not even about your own sister”

And with that, she left not daring to look back at him. She just wanted to walk and forget about everything for a little while.

***

For the first time in a long time, Luke was worried, he was certain Leia could take care of herself but what Rey had said had spooked him. There seemed to be more than just fear in her words and he wanted to know why.

He returned to the highest point of the island and walked to the stone that he'd had Rey sit on earlier that day. It had been a long time since he'd last been connected to the Force, it wasn't long after he'd gone into hiding. But for a glimpse of Leia, to know she was safe, he had to.

He placed his hands on the rock bracing himself and closed his eyes as he stopped blocking the Force from entering him. He felt a chill go through him and then he desperately called out through the Force searching for his sister. He had an agonising wait until he finally heard and whisper.

“Luke”

His eyes opened wide and he drew a ragged breath, he could feel Leia's pain. She was hurt but seemed to be recovering to his relief.

“Leia”

He felt her desperation for him to come back, to save her son. That when he severed their connection after what he'd done there was no way he could help Ben.

He should have cut his ties with the Force as soon as he knew Leia was going to be safe, but something stopped him, an unbelievable amount of power coming from somewhere on the island, Rey, he knew then.

He had been right about her, she was more than capable of taking on Snoke and his minions, maybe with a bit more training. But at that moment he felt something curious, as though her powers were tied to another's.

He searched further and felt something that scared him more than he ever knew it could. Ben was connected to Rey somehow.

He turned on his heel, Rey was in danger and he had to get to her as fast as he could.

***

Ren had had a frustrating day, there was still no sign of the Resistance. Other than a Resistance shuttle that they had tracked out of hyperspace and then subsequently let slip their fingers.

So there was no chance he was getting any sleep that night, but at the very least he wanted to get some fresh clothes on. He'd just put on a fresh pair of trousers and replaced the support belt he needed to wear for a while longer after his injury in the oscillator.

He was almost certain that his injury was caused by Chewbacca's bowcaster. He didn't know of many weapons that had that much power with only one shot.

He was just about to grab a fresh tunic when the air around him changed. It was becoming an all too familiar sensation.

“I'd rather not do this now” he heard Rey say from behind him.

“Yeah, me too,” he said not sure whether or not to feel uncomfortable speaking to her without a shirt on.

“Why did you hate your fathe-” she said getting flustered at the end when he turned to look at her.

“Do you have something, a cowl or something you could put on?” she said trying to look anywhere but directly at his bare chest. She sighed as he stayed where he was, far too amused by her reaction. But that was when she started yelling at him again “Why did you hate your father? Give me an honest answer. You had a father who loved you, he gave a damn about you.”

He stepped towards her listening intently as she spoke. She was jealous of his relationship with Han, but she didn't know the truth about Han, how could she? She barely knew him. But from what she knew about Han and the way he must have treated her by the way she was idolizing the man.

She would never understand that he did love his father, idolized him more than she did. But then Han had tried to betray him, he was only trying to manipulate him.

“I didn't hate him”

“Then why?” she cried tears rolling down her cheeks.

“Why what? He said not answering the unspoken question. “Why what? Say it”

“Why did you... why did you kill him?” she sobbed “I don't understand”

“No? Your parents threw you away like garbage” he said knowing how similar there younger lives were.

“They didn't!” She spat back at him.

“They did” he knew that it was true, she had been abandoned on Jakku but she never stopped waiting for them “But you can't stop needing them. It's your greatest weakness, looking for them everywhere, in Han Solo, now in Skywalker.”

It made him wonder if Luke had told her his version of events. “Did he tell you what happened that night?”

“Yes,” she said with no hesitation. But she was wrong.

“No. He sensed my power as he senses yours and he feared it” he said, feeling like it was only yesterday. He had turned over in his bed, waking up to find Luke standing over him with his lightsaber in hand and sensing his rage. He'd managed to quickly get his saber to defend himself “He attacked me and I did what I could to protect myself”

“Liar” Rey said sounding less certain, she could hear the truth in his voice. If only she would truly listen to him, maybe he could try one last time.

“Let the past die. Kill it if you have to, that's the only way to become what you were meant to be.”

They stared at each other for a few more seconds and then their connection broke, He hoped she would take his words to heart and change her mind about him.

***

Rey's head felt even more muddled after her talk with Kylo. She had heard both his and Luke's side of the story. Luke's seemed more likely but something about the sincerity in his voice gave her pause. Could there really be any truth in what he'd said?

She felt more in the dark than ever. There were so many unanswered questions, Luke, Kylo, her parents. She wanted the truth and soon. That's when she remembered the dark place on the island, it had wanted to show her something and she was going to find out what.

She made her way back down to the coast and jumped down to where there was a dark hole covered in black vines. She knelt down, resting her palms on the very edge as she tried to see what was at the bottom.

She hadn't realized how slippery the vines were though. She screamed as she ended up diving headfirst into a deep pool. She splashed around wildly trying to reach the top and then gasped for air when her head broke the surface.

She paddled as fast as she could to the edge of the pool and pulled herself up onto a stone ledge. She stood up and looked around only seeing one thing beyond the pool, a wall that reflected her image like a mirror. She walked towards it and stretched out her hand seeing her reflection do the same thing.

But before she could touch it the room distorted itself, so she could then see the back of herself, she saw that her hair had fallen out of its usual three buns, it made her feel even stranger than she already did in that moment.

She turned around, no longer hearing the sounds of the wind or water and was met with an even stranger sight. There was a line of copies all of herself, it seemed to be never-ending, she turned back to look at the mirror, only to see more copies of herself in front of her.

She held up her hand and watched as all the other Rey's mimicked her. She clicked her fingers and heard as it ran up and down the chain, she was in the middle of.

It was some sort of trick, she was sure. She clicked again and heard the sound died a ways beyond the line of copies, she knew there must be an end.

She clenched her fists and closed her eyes and stepped forward, breaking out of the mirage, finding herself in front of an iced covered wall. This is what she had come there to find, it would give her the answers she needed.

She considered what to ask about but she really didn't need to. She knew what she wanted to ask, she'd always known.

“Let me see them, my parents, please” she whispered her fingers touching the cool surface in front of her. As she did she could have sworn she heard someone say, Rey. Her heart leapt as she saw two shadowy figures coming closer to her.

She anxiously waited as they drew closer only for the figures to merge together and the ice dissolved to show Rey her own image in the mirror once more.

She collapsed onto her knees and cried. She wasn't sure if it was all just a trick, sending her down there or if it meant something far worse that she was not ready to face.

As soon as she feeling came back to her legs she got out of there, not wanting to stay another minute more. She used the vines on the edge of the hole to hoist herself back up, careful not to slip back down as she reached the top.

As she travelled back to her hut, it started to rain. So not only was she soaked from her dip in the pool, but she got even wetter before she could sneak back to the village, hoping Luke would not see her return.

She lit the fire in her hut and sat down in front of it, trying to stop herself from shaking from the cold. As she sat there on the brink on tears she couldn't help but think about how stupid she had been, that was until she felt his presence in the room.

Kylo was sat opposite her, a look of concern on his face. She couldn't understand why but she started telling him everything that had happened down in the cave. She started to shiver as she told her story, her teeth chattering occasionally.

As soon as Kylo noticed he stood up and went over to something she couldn't see, then he turned back to her with a blanket in his hand and instinctually went to hand it to her. She didn't think she would be able to take it but miraculously it passed from his hand to hers. She put it around herself and carried on with her story.

“I should have felt trapped or panicked, but I didn't. It didn't go on forever, I knew it was leading somewhere to show me what I came to see. I thought I'd find answers, I was wrong. I'd never felt so alone.”

“You're not alone,” he said truly. Rey looked up at him swearing she could see tears forming in his eyes, breaking through the wall he hid his emotions behind. He felt as lonely in the galaxy as she did.

“Neither are you,” she said as a mild look of shock crossed his face.

She had a strange urge to touch him then, his hair, his face, the scar she had given him. To find comfort from the one person who could possibly understand her. Finn and Poe must have known loneliness but not true isolation. She and Kylo knew that feeling all too well she was sure.

She wiped away her tears, finding new hope in his presence there.

“I wanted you to be able to trust me,” he said miserably, with no hope of redemption for what he had done.

“It isn't too late,” she said thinking maybe after all the fighting, there could be some sort of peace between them.

She took a deep breath and then extended her hand to him, moving closer to him as he took his glove off and tentatively reached over closing the gap until their fingers were millimetres apart.

She felt as though there was static between them pulling them closer together until finally their fingers were pressed together. She shuddered as she felt energy pass through their connection.

In that instance, the face of the man in front of her seemed different. His hair was scruffier and sweat covered his brow. The scar on his face was no longer there but his eyes were the most changed, no longer pools of darkness but a soft brown and he was looking at her with such relief and also something else she wasn't too sure of.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she understood what she was seeing, it was a vision. Not of Kylo Ren but Ben Solo. He wasn't gone, only locked away and unable to break free, she could save him. She just needed to get to him in person.

However just as she was enjoying their moment together it was interrupted.

“Stop!” Luke screamed stretching his hand out and actually breaking the hut to pieces. Her hand left Ben's as he desperately clinging to their connection worried for her, but it was too late, he was gone.

“Is it true? Did you try to murder him?” She asked standing up, once again in the rain.

“Leave this island and never come back” he growled, not answering her.

But Rey had had enough of him, she picked up her staff from within the rubble.

“Stop!” she yelled, “Stop!” She whacked him on the back knocking him to the ground.

“Did you do it? Did you create Kylo Ren?”

He stood up quickly and she made to hit him again, but he had used the Force to send some sort of antenna to block her blows with. She swung at him again and again but he blocked her every time.

And when he saw his chance he smacked her on the back making her shout out in pain. He was a good fighter but the angrier Rey got the more she became a match for him. She was close to overpowering him but he managed to pull her staff out of her hand and threw it away from her.

That's when she reached behind her and the lightsaber shot into her hand and she ignited in front of Luke, as he stumbled back falling over, using the Force to soften his fall.

“Tell me the truth,” she said deactivating the saber.

He sat there for a moment just letting the rain fall on him, knowing he would have to tell her.

“I saw darkness. I'd sensed it building in him. I'd seen it in moments during his training. But then I looked inside and it was beyond what I ever imagined. Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction, and pain, and death and the end of everything I love because of what he would become. And for the briefest moment of pure instinct, I thought I could stop it. It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame and with consequence. And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him.”

Rey understood it all then, Luke's guilt and Ben's turn. It must have been easy for Snoke once Ben thought his own uncle had turned on him.

“You failed him by thinking his choice was made. It wasn't. There's still conflict in him, even now. If he would turn from the dark side that could shift the tide. This could be how we win.”

“This is not going to go the way you think,” he said knowing what she was planning.

“It is.” she said kneeling down in front of Luke “Just now when we touched hands I saw his future as solid as I'm seeing you. If I go to him Ben Solo will turn.”

“Rey, don't do this” he pleaded.

She stood back up and held out the lightsaber to him one last time. And as she expected he closed his eyes, unable to take it.

“Then he's our last hope” And with that, she picked up her staff and bag and left him to sit in the rain by himself.


	21. Holding out Hope

Chapter 21 – Holding Out Hope

Rose was pacing back and forth in front of her team, who were all gathered on the command bridge. Poe and Finn still hadn't contacted them and they were running out of time, they could only stay in hyperspace for a limited time with the way they were burning fuel.

Within an hour of Poe and Finn departing they had managed to empty the bridge, so only those who Holdo could trust, mainly people from her own cruiser but also Kaydel and D'Acy.

Then Holdo had put Rose in charge of the distraction that Poe would need to get aboard the Supremacy, she had asked her to choose only those she could trust with her life. Her thoughts immediately went to Paige, her sister would have known exactly what to do, she had always been the sensible one, the smart one.

Rose didn't feel ready for the mission at all but she asked herself. What would Paige have done? So she trusted her gut feeling and sent for Jess, Snap and Tallie.

When everyone was assembled, Holdo locked the door so that no one could enter or leave the room without her say so. She was quite extreme with her safety precautions still suspecting a spy on board.

Coming up with a strategy to distract the First Order was more difficult than Rose thought, especially without Poe to lead them. She felt completely in over her head. As she continued to pace in front of her team, trying to come up with a way to use what little ships they had to make a decent plan, she kept sneaking glances at what Holdo was doing on the other side of the room.

And when she saw an image on the screen Holdo was monitoring she couldn't hold herself back and she stormed over to the women. D'Acy must have noticed something in Rose's demeanor as she stepped into her path saying,

“Let's not make a scene”

But Rose's temper was reaching a boiling point.

“No lets,” she said slipping past D'Acy headed straight for Holdo. “Vice Admiral! Are you fuelling up the transports?”

“I don't believe that is any of your concern, Miss Tico,” she said trying to be as calm and polite as possible.

“So we're abandoning ship. Holdo those transports are unarmed and unshielded, if the First Order get hold of us in those ships they're gonna be doomed.” Rose said louder than she really should have, making her teammates come up behind.

“I don't have to explain myself to you and especially when your Captain and his stormtrooper have placed their faith in bad odds. When I am certain I can ensure the survival of the Resistance.”

Rose started to shake uncontrollably, she wanted to rage at Holdo. She was fed up with her constantly belittling Finn and Poe when they were the one putting their lives at risk to save everyone. She knew it would do no good to blow her top at Holdo but she couldn't help herself.

Just as she opened her mouth though, she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to see Tallie looking worried behind her.

“Rose...” she said shaking her head, trying to stop Rose from making a big mistake.

Just then Rose's communicator beeped and she grabbed it relieved to hear Poe's voice on the other end.

“Come in Rose”

“Thank goodness Poe, are you ready?” She asked

“We've got our way on board the ship and we managed to get in touch with Maz again to find out the First Order location at the moment. We'll give you the go-ahead for the distraction within the hour so be prepared”

“Copy that Poe and just in the nick of time too, Holdo was planning to load everyone into the shuttles”

“What?!” she heard Poe screech through the communicator “Okay we're going as fast as we can”

The line went dead and Rose looked up at Holdo knowing she was about to be in a lot of trouble.

“You have put us all at risk!” Holdo yelled

“Sorry I have to say when I see someone being an idiot!”

Tallie and Jess hissed bracing themselves for what was coming.

“There's no time now if your Captain is speeding up his plans, we need to begin loading the transports immediately” Holdo ordered

“Yeah, I was afraid you'd say that,” Rose said holding her weapon up at Holdo.

However before anyone could react, shots rang out from behind the locked door. Everyone became silent scrambling to arm themselves, ducking for cover as someone tried to break down the door to the bridge.

Smoke poured forth and burn marks appeared on the door until finally, the door exploded. They waited, blasters raised as someone came through the smoke.

It was Leia still in her medical gown with a walking stick in one hand and a blaster in the other.

“You know secret plans are best kept quiet, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole ship knew now”

Everyone in the room sighed in relief as they put their weapons down. Even so, the look Leia was giving them made them all feel they were in for a rollicking. She made her way over to Rose who shook with fear.

“Now Rose, I believe from what I heard there are two young men who are counting on you. You'd better go and get ready”

“Yes General,” she said shyly making to move away but Leia put a hand on her shoulder.

“We'll talk later,” Leia said and then let Rose and her team go.

As Rose walked out of the still smoking door and down to the hangar, it hit her how irrational she had been acting. In that moment she didn't feel like herself and guilt started to weigh on her.

She felt more reassured knowing that Leia would be overseeing Holdo's plan but still, she knew she had gone too far.

***

The rain had blown itself out again as Luke stood in his hut, he changed into the white robes he had been wearing when Rey arrived on the island, he grabbed his torch and headed out.

He had kept his connection to the Force, the grief and guilt weighed heavily on him but a presence in the Force was trying to comfort him, he wasn't sure who but they were giving Luke the courage to do what he should have done long ago.

He reached the Tree of the Jedi and lit his torch intent on burning the tree to ash. He continued up the stairs to the tree until that presence he had felt was noticeably stronger he turned around and saw the spirit of his old master looking up at him.

“Master Yoda”

“Young Skywalker” The little green being lit by a blue glow said with his old croaky voice.

“I'm ending all of this. The tree, the text, the Jedi. I'm gonna burn it down.” he said reaching the tree. He lifted the torch to burn the tree but something stopped him. He was going to burn it down the day Rey arrived, but he had decided to wait until she was going, to go ahead with it. Maybe her presence on the island was the Force intervening because she needed those books to continue her journey. Wasn't it the least he could do after what had happened to give her something to help her prepare for the fight ahead.

He lowered the torch and extinguished it.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning hit the tree, setting fire to it. Luke heard Yoda chuckling below and turning to look at the green fellow who was in hysterics.

“Ah, Skywalker. Missed you, have I.”

Luke looked up at the trees desperate to save the books inside, but a fire burst sent him flying back on the grass below.

“So it is time,” he asked Yoda who appeared in front of him. “For the Jedi Order to end.

“Time it is. Hmm. For you to look past a pile of old books, hmm?”

“The sacred Jedi texts!” he yelled

“Oh. Read them, have you?”

“Well, I...” He said not sure how to tell Yoda that he had to fail in his readings just like he had done with everything else.

“Page-turners, they were not. Yes, yes, yes. Wisdom they held, but that library contained nothing that the girl Rey does not already possess” he said coming closer to where Luke sat watching the tree burn.

“Skywalker, still looking to the horizon. Never here, now, hmm? The need in front of your nose. Hmm?” Yoda said bonking Luke on the head with his cane.

“I was weak, unwise,” he said sadly.

“Lost Ben Solo, you did. Lose Rey, we must not.”

“I can't be what she needs me to be.” He said knowing he would be no help if he returned with her.

“Heeded my words not, did you?”

“I don't understand”

“Still do not know who she is, do you?”

“What are you talking are? Who is she?”

“Came close, you did. Search and find the answers, you will.”

Luke closed his eyes, searching through the Force, he sensed Rey and her ties to the Force and then he saw what he had missed before.

“How is this even possible?” he asked But Yoda said nothing, he knew he had to seek the truth for himself. “How can I help her now? She won't trust me.”

“Learned everything she needed to on this island, she has. Strength, mastery, weakness, folly and failure. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is.” he sat down beside Luke and he realized what there was still one thing he could do for the girl. “Luke, we are what they grow beyond. That is the true burden of all masters.”

For a moment that watched the tree burn and then Luke got to his feet, knowing exactly what he had to do.

“Thank you, Master Yoda,” he said

“Hmm”

And with that, he left determined to find Rey before she left.

***

Rey was waiting impatiently by the coast where the Falcon had been, she wished she had waited a bit longer before she had sent Chewie away.

She was constantly checking her communicator to see if Chewie had gotten her messages, she needed to get to Ben as soon as possible and the wait was agonising. But she had no choice, she had no other way off the island.

She watched as the dark waves hit the shore illuminated by the moonlight listening to it helped calm her anxieties. She couldn't believe how far she and Ben had cone in such little time, she couldn't explain what it was but she was sure there was something more between them than just the Force connecting them for no apparent reason.

She heard R2 start to beep excitedly then, Luke was walking calmly down the steps towards her. He was back in the white robes he'd been wearing when she first met him, looking every bit the Jedi he said he was not.

She turned back to the ocean not wanting to hear what he had to say. He stood beside her not saying a word waiting for her to be ready. She held herself back from saying anything until she literally couldn't hold it back any longer.

“If you're here to stop me it won't do any good, I've made up my mind.”

“I know you have and I've come to help you,” he said finally speaking.

“You’re coming back with me?” she asked a hint of hope in her voice.

“No,” he said as she frowned at him “What I need to do to help means I need to stay here but I can get you off this island now, instead of you having to wait for Chewie”

“How?” she asked confused.

Luke didn't say a word he only raised his hand and closed his eyes focusing intently calling out to the Force.

The water below them was being disturbed, Rey walked close to the edge to see something rising out of the darkness. It was an X-Wing, Luke's one from the days of the rebellion to be exact. It was covered in seaweed and leaking water but there didn't seem to be any damage to it, it was possible that it still worked with a bit of luck.

She turned to look back at Luke when it was on the ground in front of her, he lowered his hand and smiled at her and she returned the smile.

“My help will come when the time is right,” he said as she nodded and then he walked away heading up into the hills once more.

She picked up her staff and overstuffed bag and put them inside the cockpit. Just before she climbed into the ship, she felt the air shift. And Ben was there a distance away from her but she could see the relief that she was alright clear on his face. She gave him a faint smile trying to tell him without words that she was coming to find him. He seemed to understand as she could have sworn she saw a smile flash across his face.

She hopped into her seat in the X-Wing and looked back up to where he had been standing, but he was gone.

She put on Luke's old helmet that she had found on the floor of the cockpit, reminding of her youth on Jakku when she had messed around with a similar helmet.

She started up the ship and it hummed to life and then she closed the top hatch and lifted off the ground heading away to find Chewie, Ben and then the Resistance.


	22. Aboard the Supremacy

Chapter 22 - Aboard the Supremacy

The trip to get aboard the First Order ship was a daunting one. They had found the fleet in the Jakku system and the Supremacy was above Jakku itself. They were sitting in the cockpit of the shuttle watching as they saw the giant ship looming over the orange planet.

“Why did have to be Jakku...” Finn grumbled, Poe knew he was really not a fan of the place.

“I don't know, maybe they forgot something last time they were here.”

“Yeah, us. I swear I didn't go through all this to end up getting captured by them, exactly where we started.”

Poe reached for Finn's hand and squeezed it tightly. “You know whatever happened I'll protect you” They smiled at each other and then released one another's hands and Poe pulled the Captain's medallion that Lando had given them out of his pocket and placed it into the communication port. “Well let's hope this works”

They waited as the message went through to the Supremacy. The screen in front of Poe came up with a message, Poe smirked “Yes! Thank you Lando” and he enthusiastically got to work speeding towards the massive ship.

The hangar they entered was miraculously empty other than two troopers, Poe and Finn jumped out of their seats and went to hide on either side of the ramp as it opened. The troopers walked in and the boys each grabbed one of the troopers and swung them around so they hit the wall of the ship knocking them both out.

“Easy peezy,” Poe said clapping his hands together. “Let's just hope we get there before Holdo starts her stupid plan, I really can't believe that woman”

“Come on let's go before more come,” Finn said scurrying down the ramp, BB-8 and Poe following behind.

They headed out of the hangar and had to dodge more troopers by ducking into an officer laundry room. They waited for the troopers to pass and looked around the room of freshly launder uniforms

“I've got an idea,” Poe said and soon they were disguised as First Order officers with no one the wiser. They put a black trash can over BB-8 so he blended in the other droids aboard. And with that, they started making their way to the breaker room.

***

It was rather cramped inside the X-Wing and the tech was incredibly old, so trying to contact Chewie was a bit of a struggle. And when she finally did get through to him, his news made her stomach drop.

D'Qar was in ruins and the Resistance was missing somewhere in hyperspace. Chewie had got his information from Maz Kanata, the First Order was tracking the Resistance through hyperspace and were intent on destroying them.

Rey knew she had to get to Ben as fast as possible, it was the only way for her to help the Resistance. If she and Ben brought Snoke down they could stop the attack on her friends.

On the bright side, Chewie had found out the location of Supremacy, Snoke's ship. She was certain she would find Ben there. What was curious she thought was that they were above Jakku, what in the galaxy had made them go back there?

She and Chewie met on one of the moons in the Jakku system, she saw the planet in the distance as she flew towards the Falcon which had already landed on the moon. The desert planet gave her no feelings of home, just fear and loneliness.

When she finally landed on the moon she jumped out of the X-Wing, grabbing her stuff and running to Chewie who pulled her into a tight bear hug.

Chewie never questioned Rey's plan to go aboard the Supremacy. He prepared the escape pod she would use to send her off, while she hid the Jedi texts she had taken from the island.

She grabbed the lightsaber out of the bag and went to the escape pod.

“As soon as I launch, jump out of range. Stay there until you get my signal for where to rendezvous" She said sitting down nervous for what came next. " If you see Finn and Poe  
before I do, tell them..."

Chewie growled knowing what she wanted to say before even she did. She smiled “Yeah, perfect. Tell them that.”

She looked at the lightsaber in her hand, hoping she was ready to use it again. Then she took a deep breath and slid down into the escape pod so she was lying on her back as the hatch closed above her.

She waited as patiently as possible, while Chewie flew them close enough. She felt the pod slide into place ready for her to be jettisoned into space. And then she felt it drop out of the ship and float in space for a moment and then the engine started up flying her to the other ship.

She hoped Chewie had gotten out of there safely. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, as she tried to slow her breathing, she was getting more and more anxious the closer she got.

She sensed Ben's presence then, it would be the first time she'd really seen him since the forest and she was having a difficult time controlling her breathing.

She felt the pod come to a stop landing on what she knew was Snoke's ship.

The porthole of the hatch opened and all she could see was smoke above her. When it cleared she saw Ben standing beside the pod and her heart seemed to stop but the look on his face confused her, he wanted to look happy to see her, but he was so tense desperately trying to hide behind a mask. He moved away from her and two troopers approached her restraints in hand.

The only way she could go with Ben at that moment was as a prisoner.

***

The ship was massive, Poe wondered how it was even possible for Finn to navigate the place.

“The breaker room is a few floors lower will get into an elevator and signal Rose to begin the distraction” Finn whispered.

“Okay...” Poe said slightly distracted his droid was causing a bit of a problem. While he and Finn were able to blend in well, BB-8 was going a bit overboard, trying to imitate a mouse droid but he kept crashing into people and making quite the spectacle of himself, thankfully no one stopped them.

“Almost there...” Finn said but the lost his train of thought

“What's wrong?” Poe asked surreptitiously.

“I don't know. I just thought I felt... nevermind it was nothing” he said heading straight for the elevators.

They jumped into the closest empty one, hurrying BB-8 to get in quickly and closing the door before anyone could follow them in.

Poe grabbed his communicator trying to get through to Rose. “Come in Rose”

“We're here Poe and ready to go”

“Great,” he said, “As soon as you're out of hyperspace, start your attack. We'll give you the go-ahead to retreat as soon as the tracker is down.”

“Copy that Poe, we're counting on you”

The line went dead and Poe and Finn stood tensely in the elevator as it travelled down. A minute later the ship rumbled as it travelled into hyperspace. And the time had come for Poe and Finn to do the most difficult part of their mission.

***

Ren and Rey were in the elevator together both facing the wall in front of them. Ren was trying to do what he always did when he was going to see Snoke. But keeping his mind blank while Rey was there was almost impossible, especially owing to the fact that Rey was being held in restraints, but it was protocol know matter how much he hated it.

She wouldn't be in them for long though, with what he knew about her and had seen in their vision. She would join him, he was more sure of that than ever before.

“You don't have to do this,” she said interrupting his thoughts. “I feel the conflict in you. It's tearing you apart”

He stayed silent, she knew as much about him as he did her. But no matter how much he wanted to just run away with Rey and leave everything behind. He couldn't, the galaxy still had need of him and with Rey by his side, they could make the whole universe into a truly amazing place.

“Ben” Ren glanced at Rey, she had said his old name. Normally that would send him into a rage but hearing Rey say it, it felt right. “When we touched hands, I saw your future. Just a shape of it but solid and clear” She had turned to look at him and drew closer making him shuffle around nervously. “You will not bow before Snoke. You'll turn. I'll help you. I saw it.”

She whispered that last part getting even closer to him. He was sure she noticed his lips tremble slightly. She had such confidence in him, but he knew then that convincing Rey to join him would be a lot harder than he thought, they hadn't had the same vision.

“I saw something too. Because of what I saw, I know when the moment comes, you'll be the one to turn. You'll stand with me” He needed to tell her about their connection that they were more to each other than she could ever realise “Rey, I know who you are.”

But it was too late to say anymore more, the elevator doors had opened and Snoke was waiting for them.

***

The ship rumbled once again as Poe and Finn were walking down the corridor to the breaker room.

“They've found them” Finn stated

“Yeah, we don't have long though, the longer it takes us the more danger they will be in,” Poe said as they turned a corner and Finn pointed towards a door on their right.

“This is it”

“Okay BB-8 you're up,” Poe said as they all squeezed into the doorway, the little droid beeped as his little arm came up and out of the trash can. He connected to one of the ports and then they heard gears shifting within.

Finn heard footsteps and poked his head out and saw two guards. “We need to hurry up”

BB-8 beeped with annoyance but the door opened a moment later and they saw the power breaker straight ahead of them. They ran forward heading straight it, Poe had his communicator out to let Rose know they were almost ready to evacuate everyone but then they heard a droid bleat angrily and then First Order troops had surrounded them.

“You there, hands up!” one of the troopers said.

The pair raised their hands above their heads and turned around and were met with the sight of Captain Phasma, Finn's old superior.

“FN- 2187, so good to have you back”

Finn desperately tried to hold back his fear knowing they had failed and that Phasma was going to take her revenge.


	23. The Choice

Chapter 23 – The Choice

Rey stepped away from Ben just as the elevator doors opened. What he had said had frightened her, how could he really know more about her than she did herself. But there was no time to confront her fears about knowing who she really was.

Rey turned around to see a man wearing a golden robe lounging on his throne, waiting for them to approach him. She didn't want to move but Ben put his hand on the small of her back and guided her further into the red throne room.

They stopped when both of them were in front of the man, closer to him Rey could see that his pale face was twisted and deformed. She knew at that moment that Snoke truly was a monster in every sense of the word.

“Well done, my good and faithful apprentice. My faith in you is restored” He said pleased, he raised his hand gesturing for Ben to come and stand on his right side.

Rey watched sadly as Ben did so, without a second thought. Then Snoke turned his attention back to her.

“Young Rey, welcome”

The way he said it made Rey's insides squirm but she did not let it show on her face.

The restraints on her hands fell away then and she shook her hands getting some feeling back into her wrists.

“Come closer, child” He beckoned but she stayed exactly where she was “So much strength. Darkness rises, and light to meet it. I warned my young apprentice that as he grew stronger, his equal in the light would rise. Skywalker I had thought at first.”

The lightsaber that Ben had taken from her upon her arrival, zoomed out of Ben's hand into Snoke's then.

“Curious that this lightsaber would choose you above anyone else” he mused “I believe I told you to come closer”

Rey tried to stay firmly in place, her hands balled into fists, but Snoke was so powerful that he was able to pull her forward without even raising a hand.

“You underestimate Skywalker and Ben Solo, and me. It will be your downfall” Rey said as she was pulled onto the dais.

“Oh... have you seen something a weakness in my apprentice? Is that why you came?” He said softly and then he began to laugh “Young fool. It was I who bridged your minds. I stoked Ren's conflicted soul. I knew he was not strong enough to hide it from you, and you were not wise enough to resist the bait”

She watched in horror as Snoke wheezed a laugh. She wouldn't believe what he said though. Somehow he knew about Ben and Rey's connection maybe more than they did. But she knew in her heart that he had not created it, their bond was not artificial. It was more real than anything she had felt in her life.

“And now, you will give me Skywalker” he commanded raising his hand to Rey's throat. “Then I will take you apart bit by bit and you will become something you could not possibly imagine”

“No!”

“Yes,” he smiled and then he pushed her back and suspended her in the air. “Give me everything

She tried to fight back but he was just too powerful. She felt him enter her mind unable to stop him and flashes of memories she didn't even know she had, flooded her mind.

She was very small running around an old silver ship playing with her doll.

Then she was standing at an all too familiar counter but she was still too small to see Unkar Plutt's ugly face. A woman was holding her hand tightly as she spoke to the man.

_“How much do you want for it?”_

_“Whatever you can give us”_

Her life on Jakku went rapidly through her mind, that was when Snoke found what he was looking for, Luke and she heard him say,

_“It's time for the Jedi to end”_

“No! No!” She cried out.

She couldn't let him see anymore but trying to keep him at bay was causing her physical pain that she let out a blood-curdling scream. But it stopped him delving any further, he couldn't get to Rey and Luke's last conversation.

***

Inside her X-Wing, Rose felt like her heart was beating outside of her chest. The waiting was always the worst part. And waiting for the ship to drop out hyperspace and then the First Order to find them was an agonising wait.

Normally she would be cracking jokes or teasing Poe and then getting told off by Paige, but neither of them could be there for her.

But her team was there and they needed her and she could be strong if only for them.

The ship gave an almighty jolt then, they were out of hyperspace. It was only a few minutes or so later that proximity alarms started to blare and everyone began to race around like crazy.

“Alright team, like we planned, scatter the fighters and keep them away from the fleet,” Rose said through the comms

“We're with you Rose” Jess replied which comforted her greatly.

“All teams are ready to go Rose”

“Thanks Tallie, okay everyone good luck out there” And with that, they all flew out of the hangar into open space. Where the First Order Fleet was waiting for them.

“They've brought the welcome wagon out for us,” Snap said as the TIE fighter headed for them. There were so many more of them but the Resistance fighters were more skilled and were managing to take a few down.

It didn't seem to be enough though. The Tie fighters were picking them off. Rose herself had five on her tail but she was able to loop around and fire on them taking two of them out.

That was when Tallie came over the comms she screamed “I'm hit” and then went silent as Rose saw her A-Wing become a fireball.

She couldn't take it in, she just put all of her anger and grief into shooting as many fighters as she could, so much so that all three of the TIE's chasing her were obliterated within a minute of Tallie's death.

Her communicator for Poe beeped then and she turned it on expecting to hear Poe tell her it was time to go. But her bottom lip trembled and her hands shook as the voices that came over were not Finn or Poe, stormtroopers were yelling and then a woman spoke.

“They didn't make it” she cried relaying the message to the Fleet

“Rose...” It was Leia speaking to her “Holdo is already evacuating the ship, we need you to keep the TIE's away from the transports”

“Yes General,” she said feeling defeated but gearing herself back up and taking out another TIE.

Even though they were managing to keep the TIE's from the transport, it didn't stop the blasts that were coming from the Supremacy and soon the shields on the fleet's ships failed.

Their small cruiser and medical frigate were both hit badly and burst into flames, a few transports flew out just in time, Rose and Snap guarded them as they made their way to the other transports. That was when Rose noticed something for the first time there was a planet in the distance.

“What is that?” she asked

D'acy voice came over the comms then “The mineral planet, Crait. An uncharted hideout from the days of the rebellion. It's abandoned but heavily armoured with enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered in the Outer Rim”

“That could work,” she said thinking that they might have just enough time to escape.

“Thank you for your support, Miss Tico,” Holdo said. Rose was confused though Holdo's message was coming from the cruiser, not the transports

“Holdo, why are you still on the cruiser?”

“I still have a job to do. But Miss Tico before I go I should let you know, I respect your commitment to your friends, it will help you in the future. You've got a spark in you that I don't see in many people, never lose it”

Rose gulped Holdo had just complimented her, but she took it to heart and was more focused on protecting the transport than she thought she could be at that moment.

“May the Force be with you all” Holdo said and Rose looked up to see the cruiser turning around to face the First Order fleet. And she wondered not for the first time, what the hell Holdo was doing.

***

Ren barely heard Snoke chuckling, his thoughts were running through his mind too fast. His and Rey's connection was a lie, Snoke had used him, Rey was in pain.

He watched her fall to the floor as Snoke continued to laugh.

“Well, well, I did not expect Skywalker to be so wise,” Snoke said watching Rey was pulling herself up as Ren looked on with so much anger inside him, he couldn't bear to feel Rey's pain. “We will give him and the Jedi Order the death he desires. And with the Rebels gone no one will be able to stop my worthy apprentice from taking his revenge.

Rey stood up then and reached out for the lightsaber but it flew past her and then hit her on the head. He hated seeing Snoke toy with her, he realised at that moment he was done with Snoke, so what if Snoke had created their connection, Rey could still want him.

“Such spunk. Look here now” Snoke said sending her over to his spyglass. Ren looked out of the corner of his eye, seeing the Resistance being fired on. “The entire Resistance on those transports. Soon they will all be gone. For you, all is lost.”

She turned to face them and grabbed for Ren's saber holding it up ready to fight and all of Snoke guard prepared their weapon ready to defend their master. Ren had not been able to stop Rey taking his saber so wrapped up in his thoughts.

“Ooh. And still that fiery spit of hope. You have the spirit of a true Jedi!” he taunted and then she ran forward only for Snoke to knock her to the ground again, his saber falling out of her grip and landing on the floor in front of her. He lifted her up into a kneeling position then restraining her once more. “And because of that you must die, but I still have use for you for a little while longer”

“I have sent for the Knights to come and take my little sacrifice where she needs to go,” He said to Ren then which confused him. What did he mean, sacrifice? “Now my loyal apprentice, son of darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader. Where there was conflict, I now sense resolve. Where there was weakness, strength. You will join us again when your training is complete Go fulfill your destiny.”

Ren nodded and started to walk off the dais, Snoke was right as soon as he knew Rey wasn't going to survive his mind became clear and Snoke was unable to see his true intentions. There was no more conflict and he was stronger just being in Rey's presence.

“I know what I have to do,” he said as he walked away, Rey looking on as he came closer to her.

“Ben” She whimpered, he felt his chest tighten. He would never leave her again he knew in that moment.

Snoke laughed “You think you can turn him? Pathetic child. I cannot be betrayed, I cannot be beaten. I see his mind, I see his every intent.” And that was all he would see, Ren's intentions nothing more. He made his way past Rey slowly, letting Snoke see what he thought was going to happen “Yes, the master who betrayed him will die”

Ren's fingers twisted surreptitiously as he picked up his saber. The saber on Snoke's throne began to move. “I see him turning his lightsaber on his old master to strike true. And Then foolish child, he will ignite it and kill his true enemy!”

Ren flicked his fingers and turned quickly to see Snoke gasp, Rey fell out of his grasp as he looked down to see the lightsaber at his side ignited, splitting him in half.

Ren flicked his fingers again and Snoke's body fell apart as he sent the lightsaber to Rey. She grabbed it and stood up, as the praetorian guard ignited their weapons once more, ready to avenge their master.

He activated his saber as well and nodded to Rey, as she looked at him with such hope in her eyes that it made Ren's heart leap. They held each other's gaze for a moment longer and then turned to fight the guards, their weapons struck the sabers but they blocked them easily.

Ren slashed at the three in front of him knocking one far away and he parried with the other two. He ducked as another one took a swing at him from behind, then slashed down the front of the guard slicing him to pieces. Just as Rey stabbed one coming straight for him.

She lent against Ren back then holding on to his thigh to propel herself forward, it made him lose focus for half a second as they spun around.

The guards pushed him back, taking him away from Rey making him fight more ferociously than ever before. Two guards locked on to his saber and he grunted as he twisted away and elbowed one of them in the face while kicking the other in the chest and then through both to the ground.

He could hear Rey grunting as well as she fought on the other side of the room. He was locked in by two guards again then and he was forced back as a third came running at him.

He pushed up to send the two at his sides, flying away and then stabbing the other through the chest. He watched as three more guards stalked around him. He looked over at Rey seeing that she was just injured by the one left fighting her.

“Hold on” he whispered preparing himself as the three guards came at him.

And then he slashed blocking all of them. He grabbed one of their weapons, blocking the strike above him as he stabbed another from behind. He threw the first to the ground and slashed at the last one coming for him and blocking his weapon while he stabbed him with the other’s weapon. But he was forced to release both weapons stuck in the other as the first came flying at him. He dodged the swings and took hold of the guard's weapon and they wrestled for it.

But the guard locked it around Ren's neck and put him into a chokehold and he started moving the blade closer to his face he panted trying to keep it away.

“Ben!” He heard Rey call and he turned to look at her. She had defeated her last opponent as he was still struggling with his.

He knew what she was going to do before she did it and he caught the lightsaber she had thrown to him and ignited straight into the guard's face. The guard fell and Ren breathed a sigh of relief as the fight was finally over.

“You need a little bit more focus and control when using that lightsaber,” Rey teased, calling back to what he had told her the day before.

He huffed remembering, he wanted to smirk and enjoy the moment with her but the enormity of what he had just done hit him then.

***

Poe and Finn were marched into a hanger filled with troopers ready to destroy the Resistance.

They were forced to kneel in front of Hux and Phasma. Hux looked very pleased with himself.

“Hiya Hugs” Poe smirked, he knew if he and Finn were about to die, he was not going to let Hux be so smug.

Hux gave him a scowl and walked towards Finn and gave him a slap, Poe pulled against his restraint hating Hux even more for that.

“Well done, Phasma,” he said happily

“Your Resistance will be dead soon, for some reason they thought it was a good idea to load everyone into transports and send them down to the planet below. You really are fools aren't you?”

“Murdering bastard!” Finn screamed

“Don't worry you won't be around to see it” and with that, he walked away leaving them to Phasma as they struggled against their bonds.

“Execution by blaster is too good for them. Let's make this hurt.” She said with so much malice in her voice.

They forced on to their fronts as two troopers with laser axes approached them. Finn looked at Poe desperately but it was the end for both of them. He pulled his bonded hands out from under himself and stretched out as far as he could as Finn did the same.

With the weapons above their heads, Phasma spoke, “On my command.”

A moment past.

And then another.

“Execute” She ordered and Poe braced himself only focusing on Finn's frightened face.

Then everything went white.

***

She wanted to celebrate their victory but Rey needed to save the Resistance before she could.

“The fleet,” she said turning back to the spyglass, seeing the two smaller ships of the fleet exploded in flames. “There's still time to save the fleet”

But Ben didn't say a word he was simply walking towards the dais, towards Snoke's dead body.

“Ben?” she asked worriedly

“It's time to let old things die. Snoke, Skywalker. The Sith, the Jedi, the Rebels. Let it all die. Rey” he said holding his hand out and gulping deeply. “I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy”

She really thought she could bring him back but he just wanted her on his side. A part of Ben was still there though behind all of Kylo's fears and anger.

“Don't do this, Ben. Please don't go this way” She said her voice breaking.

“No, No. You're still holding on! Let go!” He yelled “Do you want to know the truth about who you are? Your parents? Or have you always known? And you've just hidden it away? You know the truth. Say it. Say it.”

“They were nobody,” she said tears rolling down her face.

“They were filthy junk traders, who sold you off for drinking money” She sobbed knowing it was true finally. It was Unkar Plutt had always said to her but she would never believe it then. “They're dead in a paupers grave in the Jakku desert. You have no place in this story. You come from nothing. You're nothing. But not to me. Join me.”

He held out his hand once more and moved closer to her “Please” he whispered begging her.

He couldn't see how badly those words had hurt. She saw it in his eyes, there was no more soft brown left, just a poisonous black. She looked down at his hand feeling his vulnerability and longing for her to accept him.

She couldn't though, she realised then it was not her job to save him, only he could save himself and he wasn't ready.

So she raised her hand, if she was honest with herself she almost took his hand but that was weakness, the dark side and she would not let it consume her.

Then she abruptly used the Force and pulled the saber out of Ben's hand. It didn't fly into her hand though it halted in mid-air as Ben tried to pull it back.

They were on an equal footing neither of them able to overpower the other. So much so that they were both pushed further away from the saber. It shook in the air but moved no further.

Rey screamed, pulling as hard as she could, she had to go and she was taking the saber with her no matter how much it hurt her to leave Ben behind.

The saber emitted a bright light then and broke in half throwing them back. Rey hit her head and everything went black.


	24. Saving What We Love

Chapter 24 – Saving What We Love

Finn woke up in a daze, not remembering how he had gotten into his most current predicament. He felt his shoulders being shaken as a horrendous heat hit his face.

“Finn! Wake up we gotta go” He heard Poe say. That's when it all came flooding back, they were just about to be executed when the ship had exploded.

Finn shot up seeing the carnage around them, the whole hangar was on fire, parts of the ceiling falling around them.

Poe pulled Finn unsteadily to his feet. “There's a shuttle back that way!” he yelled through the chaos pointing to a ship untouched by the fire.

They ran through the hangar watching the fire grow and TIE fighters fly through ablaze. Halfway to the shuttle, when inside a cloud of smoke loomed the shadows of troopers headed straight for them.

It was Finn's worst nightmare, Phasma and his old team were advancing on him.

“Traitor!” she screamed raising her weapon. She was just about to open fire when someone started firing at her from an AT-ST, making all of the troopers scatter taking cover.

Poe and Finn looked over to where the walker was just as it broke out of its place. The roof was ripped off to reveal that BB-8 was inside.

Finn turned to look at Poe puzzled expecting him to be just as confused, but Poe was smiling looking so proud of his little friend.

“Yes, yes!” he cheered

The droid had given them a chance to grab some weapons, Poe managed to find a blaster while Finn saw a mace a ways away and made a run for it.

He just bent down to pick the weapon, when Poe screamed.

“Finn!”

And then he shot over Finn's shoulder, as he saw that Phasma was behind him. Poe tried to get to him, but a sniper started firing from above making him run for cover.

Finn got to his feet, electrifying the mace and leaping forward as Phasma brandished her baton ready to fight him.

He jumped up high and slammed his weapon down onto hers sending sparks flying everywhere. He swung at her again but she blocked him. He pushed back forcing his weapon closer.

“You're a bug in the system,” she said

“Let's go, chrome dome” he shot back making to swing at her again but needed to duck as she took a swing for him.

They parried each other's blows for a moment, Finn stepping further back after every swing.

“Come on!” he said egging her on.

Then he swung high but she blocked him again, locking his weapon to hers, sending it low and then backhanding him. He fell back just managing to block her next blow. And then she hit him in the side, knocking him back so he was falling down.

“No!” he heard Poe screamed as Finn fell back onto a hard surface.

He picked himself up, realising the platform he was on was rising. Phasma was facing away for him as he came up.

“Hey,” he said swinging his weapon hitting her directly in the face. She fell back onto the floor as Finn walked towards her, ready to end his nightmare.

But before he could he was surrounded by troopers, his old team had come to defend their Captain.

Encircled by the troopers Phasma stood up, her helmet was broken. He could see her eye glaring at him.

“You were always disobedient and disrespectful,” she said

“No! All I did was fight back against the people who kidnapped me.” he said looking around at all of his old teammates “They took us all from our families and conditioned us to want to fight for them. But we don't have to, we can love and laugh and do what is right”

The troopers around looked at each other and lowered their weapons.

“What are you doing!” she screamed

“We're saving ourselves, just like you did on Starkiller Base. I'm sure your masters would love to know who took down the shields that day” he said smirking

Just then she grabbed her blaster and fired, Finn blocked the one aimed at him, but his teammates were not so lucky. Every one of them fell as he ran at Phasma whacking her in the chest with his weapon, she flew back to the ground once more.

The ship started to creak then the floor beneath them breaking apart. Phasma looked up at him in disgust.

“You were always scum.”

“Rebel scum” he smiled, just as the floor Phasma was on fell away sending her into the fiery pit below.

Finn heard a loud chirping noise behind him then, BB-8 was still on the walker and Poe had joined him.

“It's time to go, now!” Poe wailed as Finn ran over and jumped aboard. The walker moved quickly, getting them to the shuttle before the hangar exploded entirely.

The shuttle flew away from the ship just as it filled with fire. Poe was setting a course for a white planet in the distance, seeing all the Resistance's transport flying into the atmosphere.

***

Rey's head was killing her, she pulled herself into a sitting person blinking slowly as her eyes adjusted.

She looked around seeing the destruction on the other side of the ship. One half of the broken lightsaber was at her feet, while the other half was beside Ben. He was still unconscious as Rey crawled towards him.

She had both parts of the lightsaber in one while her other hand drew the hair out of Ben's face. For once he looked at peace, no anger or fear. She wished he could always be like that but she knew he wouldn't.

“I can't stay.” She said standing up and walking backwards towards the elevator never taking her eyes off of him “One day, you'll understand why. But until then I'm going to keep on fighting not just for my friends but for the person I know you will be, when you're ready”

She knew he couldn't hear her but she needed to say it all the same. She opened the elevator taking one last look at Ben before she travelled up.

Above the throne was an escape shuttle, she hoped inside and fled the burning ship. She sent a signal to the Falcon as soon as she was far enough away from the ship.

She hung in space, fiddling with the beacon from Leia. She'd hidden it in her boot so that Snoke wouldn't find it on her.

That was when the Falcon appeared, Chewie was quicker then Rey had expected. He must have been especially anxious. She was too, they needed to get to the Resistance as soon as they could.

***

Rose was following the transports down to the planet's surface, the other pilots doing the same. TIE's were still on their tail, chasing them down.

She was having a hard time comprehending everything that had just happened. Holdo had sent the Raddus into lightspeed directed straight at the First Order fleet, it had destroyed most of the fleet and had cut the Supremacy in half.

What a brainless, brilliant plan Holdo had come up with. Rose only wished that she could have told Holdo she was right after all.

Rose saw the base up ahead most of the transports had made it inside. But then her ship shook.

“I'm hit” she yelled seeing her back end on fire. She pulled her out of a nose dive and hit the ground salt spraying everywhere. She jumped out of her X-Wing, looking up to see Snap, Jess, C'ai take out the last TIE. Then they headed inside and Rose ran desperately to catch up with them. Only the four of them had made it out of the battle.

Dozens of crystal-like creatures were following her, as she ran under the giant door that was going to protect them when the First Order came. In the doorway was Leia shielded herself from the cold wind blowing through with her cape.

Rose and Leia watched as they saw ships entering the atmosphere.

“They're coming, shut the door,” Leia said and then she retreated grabbing a weapon and taking cover.

They could hear blaster fire as the door began to close.

“Incoming” Rose heard someone say as shots started coming under the door.

“Go! Go! Move!” Rose shouted urging people to get back “Get that shield door down now!”

The door was almost closed as a ship came sliding through tearing the roof off. Everyone who could was firing on it.

She and Leia came around to the front weapons raised. That was when Rose saw two pairs of hands raised and she heard faint shouts.

“No! Wait, don't shoot! It's us!”

“Hold your fire!” She yelled.

“Don't shoot”

“Hold your fire,” She said again.

The blaster stopped and two figures rose out of the smoke.

“Poe?” Leia asked

“Poe? Finn! You're not dead!” Rose said happily. BB-8 came rolling down to her then. “I'm glad to see you too little friend, I hope these two didn't cause too much trouble”

BB-8 beeped ruefully, almost laughing it seemed, just as Poe and Finn climbed down. Rose clapped a hand over mouth stopping her giggles. “Nice job at Canto Bight, you guys”

***

They all headed to the side room to set up their equipment.

“All right, shields are up so they can't hit us from orbit,” Poe said making his way over to Connix and Finn. “Use whatever power we've got left to broadcast a distress signal to the Outer Rim”

“Use my personal code,” Leia said from across the room. “If there are any allies to the Resistance, it's now or never.”

Poe nodded and then looked over to the doorway. Rose, Jess and Snap were coming over to him.

“Rose, how many wings have we have left? He asked

“I lost mine coming down,” she said

“Mine's leaking fuel” Jess explained sadly “C'ai weapons are busted and Snap would you like to tell Poe what happened to yours?”

“They had to extinguish it on the way in,” he said sheepishly.

“Any good news?” Poe asked Rose hopefully.

“There's some half-gutted skim speeders which may be useable”

“Well, let's just pray that big-ass door holds long enough for us to get help,” he said as the room began to shake. He looked at the others knowing it was nothing good.

They went to look through their scope, Poe saw walkers and TIE's and something in the middle he didn't know.

“Finn, do you know what this is?” he asked directing him to look through the scope.

“A battering ram cannon,” Finn said

“A what now?” he said confused.

“Miniaturized Death Star tech. It'll crack that door open like an egg.”

“Is there a back way out of here?” Rose asked.

BB-8 came over with C3-PO then.

“BB-8, what do you got?”

“BB-8 has analysed the mine's schematics. This is the only way in or out.” 3-PO explained

The base rumbled again and Poe wondered what they could do.

“Come on,” Finn said as Poe turned to look at him “We have allies. People believe in Leia. They'll get our message, they'll come. But we have to buy time. We gotta take out that cannon.”

Poe stared at Finn with such pride, thinking about how far he'd come in such a short time.

It wasn't long after they were in the skim speeders ready to head out onto the salt surface of Crait. Seven pilots had volunteered to join Poe, Finn, Rose, Jess, Snap and C'ai in the crafts. Then they sent every spare soldier into the trenches and cannons around the base.

The speeders headed out of the top of the shield door dropping down to the surface a spray of red flowing behind them.

Poe saw that Finn was having some trouble with his speeder, it jostled around and hit the ground roughly.

“Hey, engage your mono-ski. The green toggle” Rose said over the comms and Finn's ship straightened out.

“All right, listen up. I don't like these rust buckets and I don't like our odds, but...” he said cutting short when foot poked out the bottom of his speeder. “What the hell? Just keep it tight and don't get drawn in too close till they roll that cannon out front.”

They headed straight down the red earth creating lines behind them.

“All right, ground forces lay down some fire!” he said to the teams in the cannons.

As they got closer TIE's appeared above them. “Fighters, break off,” Poe screamed as the speeder scattered dodging the blasters from the TIE's.

Red plums of the earth came up everywhere making it difficult to see.

“Come on! We gotta hold them till they pull up that cannon!” Poe said following behind Rose and that's when he saw TIE's above her. “Rose you got three right behind you!”

She gunned her speeder, only just able to dodge their blasts. “I can't lose em” she screamed.

Just as it seemed too late for Rose, all three of the TIE's were blown to pieces. Poe looked up just as a shadow passed overhead.

“Whoo! Yeah!” Finn cheered seeing the Falcon flying above them.

The Falcon had really gotten their attention as all the TIE's went flying after it. And the Falcon soared away taking them with it.

“She drew 'em off! All of 'em” Poe smiled.

“Oh, they hate that ship!” Finn said.

“There it is,” Rose said as they neared the cannon. “That is a big gun”

“Okay, it's heavily armoured. Our only shot is right down the throat.” Finn explained “The cannon's opening. This is our chance.”

The Walkers in front of them were increasing their fire. The closer they got the more speeders they lost.

“We're taking heavy losses.” Poe heard from back at the base.

Poe looked over watching speeders go down. It was down to the six of them and he didn't want to lose anyone else. “They're picking us all off. We're not gonna make it.”

“All right, making my final approach. Target in sight, guns are hot.” He heard Finn say and his heart stopped.

“No! Pull off.”

“What?” Finn said, confusion in his voice.

“The cannon is charged! It's a suicide run!”

“All craft, pull away!” he said and he watched as Jess, Snap, C'ai and Rose turned back.

“No! I'm almost there!” Finn protested

“Retreat, Finn! That's an order!” Poe screeched.

Poe watched as Finn kept going unable to stop him.

“Finn? It's too late. Don't do this.” Rose said trying to talk some sense into him.

“No! I won't let them win!” Finn shouted.

“Finn! Listen to me-” Poe said but Finn heard not more he'd shut off his comms.

Poe chased after him watching in horror as Finn's speeder went into the cannons blast. He was not going to let him die though.

He sped up becoming parallel with Finn's ship and then taking a sharp turn and then barrelling straight into Finn.

Both ships crashed rolling out of the way of the cannon. Poe coughed as he heard Finn calling his name. Finn had run over to him, Poe couldn't feel his legs but at that moment he didn't care Finn was in front of him, alive dragging pieces of the ship away from Poe.

“Poe. Why would you do that? I was almost there” Finn asked unbuckling Poe from the ship. “Why would you stop me?”

“I saved you, dummy. That's how we're gonna win. I see it now, saving what we love.” Poe said softly then he pressed his lips to Finn's. He felt Finn freeze but for he slipped into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone continuing to read this.


	25. The Master and Apprentice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow almost at the end of Part 2, can't believe I've got this far

Chapter 25 - The Master and Apprentice

Ren was in a fury. His heart wouldn't stop pounding in his ears. He had jerked awake in the throne room expecting to find Rey with him but no. Hux was standing above him, a murderous glare in his eyes.

He'd had to lie, and said that it was Rey who had killed Snoke. Hux believed him and with some _persuasion,_ he had let Ren assume control of their forces as the new Supreme Leader.

They gathered what was left of the fleet and descended onto the planet. He would destroy those who were left inside their base. Without the Resistance to flee to Rey would have no choice but to come back to him. She cared about him, it was the only reason she would have left him alive in the throne room.

They had easily defeated the Resistance's puny defences, their ships had either been destroyed or retreated.

The Falcon had caused a minor bit of inconvenience. He hadn't been able to contain his anger and had raged at them to ' _Blow that piece of junk out of the sky!_ ' There was something about that ship that made his temper rise exponentially.

The battering ram cannon had blown away the shield door the Resistance was hiding behind, Ren was impatient to get it over and done with, there were so many more important things to be doing.

“General Hux, advance. No quarter. No prisoners.”

***

Leia watched as Connix read the readings on the monitor, they were desperate for information from any of their allies. The First Order had destroyed their last defences and with the shield door gone, they would be there any moment.

“Our distress signal's been received at multiple points, but only one response... Lando Calrissian” Connix said. Lando. Leia thought, what had made him come creeping out of his hole. “He said he's gathering some old friends and to hold out as long as we can”

“General, I don't see a way we can hold out any longer, they've heard us but no one will be here in time,” D'acy said sadly looking over at Leia for guidance.

“We fought till the end. But with us gone, the Resistance is dead. The spark is out.” she said sitting down on one of the crates and turning her face away for the light that was pouring into the base from the outside.

Suddenly, she lifted her head up. The aura in the room had changed the sadness that had filled the room was evaporating, as a hooded figure entered the room.

She stared up as the figure approached her and removed his hood.

“Luke,” she said stunned to see him, he didn't seem to have aged a day since she'd last seen him. He sat across for her but before he could speak she stopped him “I know what you're gonna say. I changed my hair.”

He sighed a laugh “It's nice that way. Leia, I'm sorry.”

“I know,” she said cutting him off again “I know you are. I'm just glad you're here at the end.”

“I came to face him, Leia. And I can't save him.”

“I held out hope for so long, but I know my son is gone,” she said knowing that no one could ever change Ben but wishing he would come back, be her son again.

“No one's ever really gone.”

Leia looked into Luke's eyes, understanding his meaning as a small smile crept onto her face. She wanted to believe him more than anything but she would have to wait and see if they were right.

Luke took hold of Leia's hand and dropped something into it. Han's lucky dice, Luke gave her a look and everything became clear to her. If there was a time for those dice to work their magic it was that moment.

Luke stood up and held Leia's face in his hands and bent down to kiss her on the forehead.

He walked away then, stopping in front of C3-PO.

“Master Luke.” the droid said bowing.

Luke winked and then carried on walking.

Leia stood up walking to the window watching as Luke walked out to face her son.

***

“Stop” Ren commanded and all the walkers came to a standstill.

A figure was leaving the mine headed for them. He felt as if the man was staring directly at him.

Ren walked forward seeing Luke Skywalker in the flesh for the first time since he was a teenager. The tables had turned as he was the one looming over Luke ready to kill.

“I want every gun we have to fire on that man,” he said, seeing Luke just stand in front of their fleet watching them, waiting to see what they would do. “Do it.”

And they fired, gigantic plumes of red dust rose into the sky, obscuring Luke from view. They didn't let up firing again and again.

“More!” he screamed clenching his fist so tightly it was bound to leave marks “More!”

“That's enough,” Hux said almost gently to him. But Ren didn't respond. “That's enough!” he screamed ceasing fire. As the guns deactivated Ren collapsed into a seat and sagged. “Do you think you got him?” Hux said sarcastically “Now if we're ready to get moving, we can finish this.”

Yes, he thought. His father, mother and uncle were all gone, no one left to stand in his way.

“Sir?” one of the pilots said, watching something below.

Ren stood up quickly and looked down at the ground. Out of the red dust still in the air, Luke walked forward staring up at Ren's ship.

Luke brushing the non-existent dust off his shoulder and waiting in place once more.

Ren gave a shaky breath, not understanding how he had survived that without even a scratch.

“Bring me down to him. Keep the door covered and don't advance until I say.”

“Supreme leader,” Hux said turning to face him. “Don't get distracted, our goal-”

But Ren had had enough of Hux for one day, copying his orders, belittling him and probably trying to murder him. He used the Force to launch Hux into the side of the ship. He yelped and then fell unconscious.

“Right away, sir,” the pilot said with on hesitation.

***

Poe was stirring just as they came under the shield door, Finn had dragged him the whole way back.

“Med pack! I need a med pack. He's hurt pretty bad” Finn said to the medics as they approached.

Poe opened his eyes seeing the medics checking him over.

“Oh Poe, thank the gods you're awake,” Finn said relieved.

Poe tried to sit up but found he couldn't. “Something's wrong,” he said barely able to lift his body up using his arms.

The medics rolled him onto his side, examining his lower back.

“What?”Finn asked concerned.

“He's got some damage to his spinal cord. I can't be sure how much but if we can get him to a medical outpost quick enough there should only be minimal injuries.”

“Poe!” he heard Rose shout as he was rolled back over. “You need to see this”

Rose handed him a pair binoculars while Finn gently lifted him into a sitting position. He ignored the sharp pain in his back, looking into the binoculars.

He could see Kylo Ren leaving his ship and ready to face off with Luke Skywalker of all people.

“It's Kylo Ren. Luke's facing him alone.”

“Shouldn't we help him?” Rose asked.

“No, wait. He's doing this for a reason.” He said looking through the binoculars again “He's stalling so we can escape.”

“Escape?” Finn said, “He's one man against an army.”

“We have to help him, we have to fight,” Rose said not understanding Poe.

“No, no. We are the spark that'll light the fire that'll burn the First Order down. Skywalker's doing this so we can survive.”

“There's gotta be a way out of this mine,” Finn asked the group that had gathered around while he, Rose and the medics placed Poe onto a gurney. “Hell, how did he get in here?”

3-PO approached them then. “Sir, it is possible that a natural unmapped opening exists. But this facility is such a maze of endless tunnels that the odds of finding an exit are 15,428-”

“Shush 3-PO. Shut up!” Rose said listening out for something.

“To one”

“Listen,” she whispered. But the room was quiet, too quiet.

“Oh, my audio sensors no longer detect the-”

“Exactly,” Rose said walking forward. “Where'd the crystal critters go?”

Poe here a tinkling noise in the distance, he stretched up as far as he could to see one of the creatures sitting patiently waiting for them.

The creature whimpered and started making his way into the mine.

“Let's go,” Poe said as everyone turned around to look at Leia who had been watching from the background.

“What are you looking at me for?” she asked “You heard him”

Poe smiled at Leia and they all made their way into the mine.

Finn pushing Poe's gurney with one hand while linking fingers with Poe with his other.

***

Luke waited patiently as Ben's ship landed in front of him. When he left the ship he stopped a ways away from Luke and they stood in silence for a moment.

“Did you come back to say you forgive me? To save my soul?” He asked

“I can't do that Ben,” Luke said doubting that Ben would get his meaning.

Ben let his cape fall to the ground and he stomped the ground igniting his lightsaber.

Luke ignited his saber as well, wondering if Ben would notice. As the blue glow illuminated his face.

They held their weapon in attack positions, poised to go at any moment.

Luke watched as Ben turned his saber and his feet twisted moving the salt beneath his feet.

Then he sprang at him, swinging his saber at Luke for the front and then the back. Luke dodged both blows. And then turning to face Ben again, gliding along the salt ground.

Ben ran at him again meaning to strike along Luke's chest, but Luke lent backwards falling to his knees as the saber came inches away from his face.

Luke slid around and quickly got to his feet.

“I failed you, Ben. I'm sorry”

“I'm sure you are!” Ben spat at him. “The Resistance is dead. The war is over. And when I kill you, I will have killed the last Jedi”

“Amazing,” he said disappointed. “Every word of what you just said was wrong. The rebellion is reborn today. The war is just beginning. And I may be the last Skywalker but I will not be the last Jedi.”

“I thought she would join me but it was all a lie,” Ben said on the verge of tears.

“Don't believe everything you're told Ben. There are some answers you can only find by yourself.”

“Shut up,” he said trembling.

“You were so close, more than I could have ever realised,” Luke said putting his saber away.

“Don't say another word”

Luke smiled “I see it now. One day you'll be ready and I can't wait to see it”

“Shut up!” Ben screamed raising his weapon again.

“No. Strike me down in anger and I'll always be with you. Just like your father.”

Then Ben came running at him but Luke stood his ground. The lightsaber went through Luke's middle but when Ben looked around at him. He turned around not a hair out of place.

Ben walked forward his saber raised and he plunged it into Luke's chest but again nothing happened. That's when he finally realised that Luke was made of pure light. He wasn't really there.

“No,” Ben said astonished.

“See you around, kid.”

And with that Luke disappeared, opening his eyes and he was back on Ahch-To. He fell to the ground. His life force depleted.

The suns were rising as he crawled back onto the rock. He sat back up unsteadily, feeling the wind blowing in his hair as he crossed his legs, staring off to the horizon one last time.

His job was done on the earthly plans of the galaxy and he felt the Force take hold of him guiding him away, to the beyond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to all of those still reading this xx


	26. The Fight Goes On

Chapter 26 – The Fight Goes On

The beacon that Leia had given to Rey was beeping rapidly. They had been tracking the Resistance since Chewie had found her floating in space.

They'd tracked them down to a planet just beyond where the supremacy had been destroyed. Travelling into the atmosphere they found themselves right above a battle and the Resistance was in desperate need of help.

Rey had left Chewie in the cockpit and ran down to the gunner position. She knew they needed to get rid of as many TIE fighters as possible. The TIE's had taken the bait and chased after them.

She made easy work of ships following them, enjoying being the gunner for once. Chewie had made ridiculously risky manoeuvres, but he had rid them of all the TIE's.

Once they were in the clear, Rey made her way quickly back up to the cockpit. R2 was tracking the movements of the Resistance but the base was such a labyrinth of tunnels they were having trouble pinpointing their location or finding a way into the mine.

R2 beeped confusedly.

“If the beacon's right beneath us, they've got to be somewhere. Keep scanning for life forms.” She said as they flew over the area again and again.

One of the Porgs that had stowed away on the ship, jumped up and started making its strange call while looking outside. Rey looked over and some small creatures caught her eye, as they poured out of a canyon.

“I see them! Chewie, there,” she said pointing as Chewie made to land, somehow Rey just knew that was them.

She hopped out of her seat, racing out of the ship and skidding down the slope. To where the last of the crystal-covered creatures were squeezing out of a large pile of rocks and then fleeing.

Rey looked up at the rocks, seeing they were blocking the resistance exit out.

“Lifting rocks,” she said noting the irony, Luke would probably have laughed about how much his last lesson had come in handy.

She raised her hand and closed her eyes, focusing on feeling the Force within the rocks. There were a lot more than last time but she put all her might into pulling them into the sky.

She gritted her teeth as she felt her strength leaving her. Opening her eyes she saw that all the rocks were floating in the air. From the largest of the boulders to the smallest chunks of rock.

She controlled her astonishment and looked past it all to the entrance where her friends were stood in awe. She pushed the rocks away sending them to either of the entrance just as Finn made his way forward.

Only then did she notice that he was pushing an injured Poe, she rushed forward. Just as she reached them Poe was able to prop himself on one arm, looking pleased to see her.

“Poe...” she said worriedly

“Hey don't worry, I'll be fine. Though we do need to get to a med station sharpish.” He said cheekily.

Rey smiled and threw an arm around both Finn and Poe and held them as close as could.

“This is nice, but we really should be going,” Poe said as Rey chuckled and broke apart from them.

She and the rest of the resistance made their way back up the slope, Poe and Leia a bit precariously because of his hovering gurney and her walking stick.

She and Leia were the last ones aboard as Rey noticed how little amount of people there were left.

Then a coldness ran through her and she held on the ship for support and looked over at Leia's face to see the grief on her face.

Luke...

***

Ren strode into the empty base, he felt like a fool. Luke had provoked him into a fight and it had given the Resistance a chance to flee. While his forces went to search the base he slipped into a side room alone, Resistance equipment abandoned in the room.

He looked down at the ground seeing a glint of gold, he knelt down and picked up his father's lucky dice. He knew them all too well, the number of times he'd played with them in his youth.

He could he footsteps then but nothing was in front of him as he looked up, that was when she appeared. His heart dropped, the connection was still there. But Snoke was dead, if he had bridged their minds then their bond should have broken.

Ren was distraught as Rey looked at him. She seemed just as shocked as he was at first, but then apprehension crossed her face and then disappointment. She had wanted him to leave the First Order, for a moment he had questioned his place in the order.

But the Resistance would never accept him and Rey would never leave her friends behind, that was clear to him after what had happened on board the Supremacy. The only place left for him was the order.

He wanted to say something to her but nothing could excuse his behaviour, he'd been cruel and hurt her. She had every right to be angry with him after what he had said.

Rey had his gaze for a moment more and then she hit a switch and then ramp slammed shut. The sound hit him like a slap.

He looked down at the dice in his hand, seeing them fade. He clenched his fist, all of Luke's power had gone but his words stuck with Ren. He wouldn't believe him, however he would listen to one thing he had said.

He couldn't trust people to tell him the truth, he could only search for the answers himself, and that was his next test to learn the truth about, himself, Rey, Snoke and his plans.

***

The Falcon was on its way away from Crait, heading for the nearest med station. Poe was staying strong for everyone else's sake. But Leia could see his fear, she'd known him since he was a little boy so it was all too clear to her. All they could hope for was that they would reach the med station in time.

Finn had helped him into a bunk and was tucking a blanket around him. He was being so attentive to Poe, but Leia noticed an awkwardness floating between them.

She made her way over to them, Poe tried to sit up further on the bunk but failed. His energy had left him once he knew they were safe.

“I'm proud of you Poe, you were really thinking like a leader out there today,” she said as he smiled pleased “Now if we could only get that bullheadedness out of you we'd be set.”

Poe lay back down frowning “I'm sorry Leia, I've been acting like an idiot. I was just angry I didn't think you trusted me anymore”

“What would make you think that?” she asked

“Ben”

“Ah, I take it that you know who he is?”

Poe nodded “He tortured me, Leia. I didn't want to believe that he was your son”

“Wait what?” Finn said stunned the puzzle pieces coming together in his head, but Poe continued speaking to Leia.

“I thought you didn't tell because you didn't trust me, but now I see that it was for him. You knew I'd do anything to protect you from him.”

“Poe you have always been my little hero and I know what Ben has done is unforgivable. But who he is now is not my son, one day when my son returns I hope you'll be able to forgive him” She said hopefully.

“If he does Leia, I promise you I will try. Just don't get your hopes up.”

“You get some rest now Poe, will be at the med station soon,” she said patted him on the shoulder and then walking away.

Leia walked around the ship, she saw happy faces of the people who had survived and those who were grieving the loss of loved ones.

Chewie came over to her once he had put the ship on autopilot and wrapped her in a very furry hug.

She watched as Rey talked to BB-8 and then Rose approached Rey. She stood up and the pair smiled at each other.

“Hi I'm Rose,” she said extending her hand

“Rey,” she said shaking the others hand.

“I know!” She said giddily “Sorry doing talking with Jedi is not my forte. _Do talking yeah._ So yeah Rose Tico please to meet you.”

Leia walked up to the pair then, anything to stop Rose fangirling over Rey any longer.

“Rose, would you mind if we have that talk now?” Leia said as Rey took the chance to leave.

Rose looked terrified, she was expecting Leia to scold her.

“I want you to know I'm not angry at you Rose,” she said as Rose shoulders sagged. “You were in a difficult situation, Holdo decided that her plan could only work if she was the only one who knew. She cared more about the safety of those here than she did herself.”

“We still lost so much though,” Rose said, Leia knew she was still trying to process her grief and it would take a long time.

“Yes, we did. Holdo made sure we had the spark we needed left but sacrificing yourself for your cause only helps in the short term. Knowing her though, she knew it was her only choice.”

Leia took Rose's hand then rubbing her knuckles.

“My hope for you my dear is that just once you can put blind faith in your leadership. Question it all you like, but trust they know it will for a good reason. Only once I ask this of you”

She let go of Rose's hand and gave her a knowing look. And with that Rose went to join Snap and Jess.

Leia looked around and saw Rey looking over at Finn as he tucked the blanket tighter around a sleeping Poe.

She came to sit beside Rey, noting the pieces of the saber in her hands. She gave her a sad smile.

“Luke is gone. I felt it. But it wasn't sadness or pain. It was peace and purpose.” Rey said looking down at the broken saber and Leia felt Rey's guilt over something. While Rey mourned Luke, Leia could tell she was also mourning for Ben. She wasn't sure what had happened between them, but he had let her down and she felt guilty for grieving for over the life they could've had.

“I felt it too,” she said letting Rey keep her secrets.

“How do we build a Rebellion from this?” Rey asked looking around.

Leia took Rey's hand, she knew a lot more about the girl sitting next to her, than she had before Luke had come. And while Rey couldn't see it, Leia knew she would soon enough.

“We have everything we need.”

End of part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who's ready for Part 3?


	27. The Supreme Leader

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow whee! it's the beginning of the end guys, thanks once again to my besties, Will and Nicole for all the encouragement.

Part 3 – Rise of the Jedi

Chapter 27 – The Supreme Leader

It had been a year since the Resistance had evaded the First Order on Crait. And a year since Kylo Ren had last seen Rey.

The connection between them was still open but Rey had found a way to control their bond, so she could break the connection whenever it opened. Most days he barely caught a glimpse of her before she was gone.

Though on the rare occasion when Rey was caught off guard by his presence, he managed to whisper her name, she paused every time it happened but never said anything in response.

Since the Battle of Crait, there had been plenty of sightings of the Resistance. Especially the traitor stormtrooper and a female pilot, then the Pilot that Ren had taken prisoner on Jakku began to appear more often.

But never Rey in a whole year, he suspected Rey was in hiding from him. She was trying to escape their connection but it was no use. It was only getting stronger he sensed the Force pulling them closer together as Rey tried to pull away from him.

The number of times they were connecting was increasing and instead of their bonds being private, they would sometimes pause mid-conversion when they were alerted to each other's presence.

The Force wanted them to communicate for some reason and even if Rey was ignoring him, Ren was determined to find out why it was happening.

When he had become the leader of the First Order, he'd had such passion to make so many improvements to the order, that Snoke would never have done. But as time went on he began to lose sleep and became obsessed with finding answers.

He found himself getting nowhere with his research, anything that could have given him real answers was lost aboard the Supremacy.

That was when an idea hit him, the study where the Sith texts were held had been destroyed but he had taken one of the books to his quarters with him before the battle. He had been trying to translate it to find answers about Rey as the book was about ancient powers of the Force. Was it possible that that book had survived?

Not all of the ship had been destroyed, it was just scrap metal hanging in the space above Crait, the idea consumed him until he finally found him in his TIE whisper on his way to Crait.

It felt strange heading back into the destroyer. He landed in a burnt-out hangar and made his way through the dark silent ship to his old quarter. His thought turned to Rey when he noticed that scavengers had been on board looking for anything salvageable. No doubt Rey would have numerous things to scavenge if she had been there.

The door to his room had been broken open, things had been tossed around and anything really useful taken. His quills and paper had been left behind and beside them a very old tome. No scavenger would have looked at the book and saw anything valuable, to them it would have been an old book with unreadable scribbles.

He picked the book up and opened it to the page he had been trying to translate so long ago. The Sith language was not an easy one, very few could translate it. Snoke had taught him what he had known but still there words even he could not decipher.

One word kept popping in passages that he could not understand for the life of him. One passage, in particular, caught his eyes _'...attachments like these are rare but if the lives of two souls become intertwined... the bond between the pair creates immeasurable power enough to...”_

He knew he would need more time to properly translate the book, so he started making his back to his ship. But as he walked down one of the shadowy corridors, he paused he sensed something more on the ship, something he needed to know.

He followed the curious sensation as it called him towards Snoke's throne room. In all honesty, he did not want to go back there, it was where he killed the one man he thought he could trust and where Rey had left him behind.

He didn't believe he could trust anyone anymore but the one thing he knew he could put his faith in was the Force, so he stepped inside the elevator surprised that it still works after so long.

He didn't know what to expect to find inside the throne room, so when he stepped inside to see Snoke's skeletal remains at the feet of the throne, his breath hitched.

He'd told his forces to leave the supremacy undisturbed, a final resting place for his master. So he didn't have to go through a sham of a funeral. The sight of his body was still unnerving for Ren.

He approached the throne, the Force compelling him to reach out his hand and touch it. As soon as his fingers the surfaces, voices filled his head.

 _'The girl is key to our plans, once we have her our plans will accelerate quickly and it will be more important than ever that we find the map'_ Snoke said

 _'Yes, master. We continue to search and I believe we are close to unlocking Vader's, it appears the Emperor's is lost for good'_ Another voice said, Ren was sure it was that of one of his knights, Vicrul.

_'Shame it is, truly though we only need one. One last thing before you leave. Ren must never know what the girl is. If he was to find out his true connection to her and our plans for them, we will fail, keeping them apart until the right moment is essential.'_

Ren stumbled back, more lies from Snoke, he thought. And Vicrul was some part in the plan and likely the rest of his Knights were as well. He knew about Rey and their connection, he had some plan that involved them. But what was truly going on he didn't understand.

The Force seemed to be urging him on further, to Snoke's bones. He crouched down his trembling fingers reaching out to Snoke's skull. He gasped, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

***

Back on his ship, Ren was shaken, his mind not able to process anything but flying as far away from that ship as possible.

Snoke's lies went deeper than he could have imagined.

Rey needed to know the truth, but she wouldn't talk to him. How in the galaxy could he get her to listen he wondered. He needed to talk to her in person, it was the only way.

The communicator in his TIE started beeping then.

“Supreme Leader,” Hux said in his smarmiest tone “There is a situation on Mustafar, some cultists of Lord Vader have taken hold of the castle. The knights have gone ahead to break the siege at the castle but our ground forces are unable to enter the forest surrounded the castle”

Ren sighed Hux was incapable of doing anything. “I'm enroute now, prepare another squadron of troopers to be ready for when I arrive.”

He disconnected his comms and travelled in hyperspace. With what he had just found out he found it suspicious that they would be dealing with something so trivial. He had to figure out what they were planning there.

Ren dropped out seeing the red fiery planet in front of him as he passed the star destroyer above the planet a shuttle left the ship following Ren as he descended into the planet's atmosphere.

He flew over the volcanoes on the planets, seeing the ruins of his grandfather's castle in the distance. Fanatics would often come there causing trouble for the inhabitants of the planet. and praying to Vader's spirit as though he was a god.

He and the shuttle landed on the outskirts of the forest, the castle looming above. As soon as he left his ship and his troops had gathered, the enemy opened fire.

Ren blocked the blasts fired at him and advanced into the forest. The cultists were no match for him.

His troopers kept up their fire as they walked into the forest scattering the masked figures. While Ren slashed and stabbed them, sending them down one by one.

They made their way further into the forest approaching the castle, most of the trees were on fire sending smoke into Ren's face and covering him in soot.

He glided swiftly over a patch of fire distracting his opponent and stabbing him from behind. He pulled another foe forward with the Force and slashed him through the chest and then shoving him backwards.

And just like that, it was over just a few stormtroopers and himself left.

He strode towards the castle just as he was reaching the entrance though, he saw his knights coming out of the building.

“Master, the fanatics have been dealt with,” Trudgen said as Ren noticed Vicrul was missing from their group.

“Looks like you made easy work of the ones down here,” Cardo said humour in his voice.

Ren looked at the five of them, sensing something was being hidden from him. Something more than just an insurgent attack had happened there.

“Time to go,” he said, turning away from them and heading back to his ship.

They travelled back to Ren's destroyer and walking away from the hangar he spotted Hux in deep conversation with Vicrul.

He walked in the other direction to them, determined to find out what was going on behind his back.

A few of the troopers sent in the first wave of fighting on Mustafar with the knights had survived and Ren headed to the barracks to find the survivors just about to enter. He pulled up FN-926 the very last trooper of Batch 8, the rest had died in the hangar on the Supremacy along with Captain Phasma.

“Trooper, what happened on Mustafar?” he said waving his hand compelling the trooper to speak the truth.

“Very strange sir, we headed to the back of the castle, we fired on men that were guarding some sort of small tomb. And then your knight, Vicrul sir, he did something to make the tomb open and then pulled out a triangular object. He spoke over the comms, telling someone he'd found the Wayfinder, we left soon after.” FN-926 said casually.

“Forget this, and go,” Ren said waving his hand again and the trooper walked away.

So they had found Vader's map, that Snoke and Vicrul had spoken of. A Wayfinder. To where though he wondered.

***

Rey was floating in mid-air, her legs crossed and eyes closed, as rocks swirling around her.

“Be with me. Be with me,” she said patiently. But then she opened her eyes and groaned. “They're not with me. Ugh”

She gracefully came back to the ground, the rocks falling around her.

Leia was standing a little ways away, she had been guiding her in the ways of the Force since they had found safety on Ajan Kloss. She had really been able to focus a lot of her powers and grow stronger but there were still something's she was struggling with.

“Rey, be patient,” Leia said

Rey sighed “I'm starting to think it isn't possible to hear the voices of the Jedi who came before”

“Nothing's impossible”

Rey understood the double meaning in Leia words, it had taken a long while for Rey to tell Leia what happened with Ben and she had barely told her anything really. But it made Leia understand why Rey didn't want to go on a mission and just keep training.

Leia held the lightsaber in her hands out to Rey. She had spent months fixing it, figuring out how to heal a kyber crystal. The gesture was another sign that she wanted Rey to stop hiding, that was all too clear. Leia knew she was afraid to leave, to face Ben again. She knew it was coming but she would train and wait for as long as she could before the moment finally came.

“Soon Leia, I promise,” she said and the older woman gave her a weak smile. She took the saber then. “I'm gonna run the training course.”

She ran off into the forest as the training orb followed her, she stopped at a gorge, putting a helmet on obscuring her vision. Then she ignited the saber and stepped out onto the rope along the gorge. The orb fired at her but she sensed the blasts and blocked them as she made her way across.

As soon as she was over to the other side she threw the helmet off and raced away still blocking the blasts from the orb.

She reached the tree where her target was and jumped up slicing off a piece of the red ribbon. She jumped down and caught the ribbon and ran back into the forest. She leapt back over the gorge, tucking and rolling as she landed, then springing back to her feet continuing to run ahead of the orb chasing her.

The orb was catching up to her and she tripped as it knocked into her foot. She picked herself up from the ground grunting. She ignited the saber again just as a blast hit her, she slashed at the orb but missed. She paused trying to focus, she struck again but the orb dodged it and hit her again in the shoulder.

She slashed again and again becoming more and more frustrated. She ended up slicing through trees rather than the orb though. She threw the saber through the air, it sliced through another tree and twisted around. She pulled a branch into her hand and then crushed the orb with it before the saber came flying back into her hand.

Suddenly a vision appeared in her mind, Ben was trying to contact her. She blocked him out but images came flashing through her mind. Lightning, a ship, a woman, a throne, Ben, a charred helmet, Han, Luke. And her ears were flooded with screams, so many screams.

Her breath was rapid and tears were brimming in her eyes. She was brought out of it though when she heard chirping.

BB-8 was stuck under a tree, he must have followed her and she hadn't noticed.

“BB-8, I'm so sorry,” she said running over to pull him out from under the tree. They made their way back to camp, BB-8 looking a little worse for wear.

Walking through the forest, she was thinking about what had happened, her connection with Ben was different from anytime before. She was usually able to shut him out and it was over. The vision had disturbed her, something was changing.


	28. Spy in the First Order

Chapter 28 – Spy in the First Order

Finn and Poe were sitting next to each other on the sofa, inside the lounge of the Falcon. And they were waiting for Chewie to make his next on the holochess table.

“Are you ever gonna go?” Poe asked as he sat forward.

“He can't beat us every time” Finn whispered

“Apparently he does”

“How does he do it,” Finn asked conspiratorially.

“This guy right here? It's cause he cheats”

Chewie growled angrily at the accusation.

“I'm kidding” Poe laughed “You're two hundred and fifty years old, of course you're better than us”

“Oh, come on. Take your turn.” Finn said talking over Poe the whole time he was speaking “You're taking forever, that's cheating. That's why we think you're cheating”

“Boys, I'd stop antagonising him before you but lose your arms. Chewie always wins, it's a universal truth.” Rose said from around the corner, they could almost hear her rolling her eyes.

Just then the alarms started chiming signalling that they were approaching their destination.

“Alright guys, time to leave that game alone” she chided

Chewie got to his feet and stuck a paw out at the pair across from him, giving them a warning growl.

“We're not gonna turn it off” Poe reassured the Wookie.

“Don't worry,” Finn said as Chewie walked away grumbling. Finn stood up as soon as Chewie was gone. “He's cheating”

“Definitely” Poe agreed, also standing up and switching the table off.

“How we getting on with the compressor, Rose?” Poe asked as he rounded the corner to the cockpit.

“It would be fine if you didn't keep on causing these surges every other day,” she said as sparks flew out of the electronics panel in front of her. “Rey is not gonna be happy when she finds out”

“Well, she won't find out if it is before we get back” he said entering the cockpit.

They had left hyperspace and were arriving at the Sinta Glacier Colony, Poe got himself settled into the pilot seat putting his headset on just as they saw the glacier in the distance.

“T-minus five,” he said and Finn took his queue, heading to the other side of the ship and jumped over a barrel as the ship rocketed around.

“R2,” he said not waiting for the little droid to catch up with him, as he made it to the top hatch ready to receive the news for their informant. He looked up just as the hatch opened.

“Boolio, good to see you. You got something for us?” he called up to the green horned fellow.

“From a new ally! A spy in the First Order” Boolio said

“A spy? Who?”

“I don't know,” he said annoyed.

“Transfer the message! Get it to Leia, hurry!” He threw down the transfer cable to Finn, who pulled it down and plugged it into R2-D2.

“This could be big, R2”

The message was over halfway downloaded when Finn heard Poe shouting.

“Finn, we're about to be cooked!”

He knew what that meant instantly the First Order had arrived, he ran around the corner and shouted back.

“We're almost there!”

R2 beeped then letting him know that the message had fully downloaded onto his files.

“Poe, we got it,” He said running back over to the droid pulling the cable out of him and sending it back up. And then calling up to Boolio again “How do we thank you?”

“Win the war,” Boolio said as the hatch closed on him.

Finn raced towards the gunner's position, almost falling as Poe gunned the engines.

As soon as he reached the guns he hopped into the seat and put his headset on. He could hear Chewie and Poe arguing through the comms.

Chewie roared as Poe had crashed into the side of the glacier.

“Sorry, I'm sorry. I know!”

Finn started firing as the TIE's behind them but he was having trouble hitting any of them. Ever since Kylo Ren had been made Supreme Leader, the TIE's had been greatly improved in their defences.

“Finn, you're supposed to be getting rid of those things” Poe yelled as the ship got hit with blaster fire.

He fired again and again until finally, he hit the lead one.

“Ooh,” he said as he saw the TIE smashed into the side of the glacier. “I got one”

“How many are left?”

“Too many!” Finn screamed back desperately trying to hit more of the TIEs. He spun his gunner pod around, hoping to find another way to get rid of the TIEs.

That's when he came up with an idea, there was a frame at the top of the glacier in front of them.

“What?” he heard Poe say over the comms Chewie grunted something to him “Good thinking Chewie. Finn, we can boulder these TIEs”

“I was just thinking that,” Finn said taking aim at the frame and then shooting it down just before the Falcon went flying under it. The TIEs however, were caught in the ensuing explosion. Finn cheered at the sight “Ha! Get us back to base.”

They were flying up to the top of the glacier then, only to be met by another squadron of TIE fighters.

“How thick do you think that ice wall is?” Poe asked as a shiver went down Finn's spine, knowing that Poe was about to do something incredibly dangerous. He heard Chewie whine and then they burst through the wall into hyperspace.

Finn jumped up and ran to the cockpit, he ended up falling into Rose as they came out of hyperspace. They were weaving through tall stalagmites on the planet they had found themselves on.

“Poe! What the hell are you doing?” Rose screeched more sparks coming from the panel she was working on.

“Lightspeed skipping” he answered sending them into hyperspace again.

“You are crazy!”

“How do you know how to do that?” Finn asked.

Another annoying thing that Ren had done was to add hyperspace tracking software to all the TIE fighters. So some of the braver Resistance fighters had been trying some risky manoeuvres, they called lightspeed skipping. Basically hopping in and out of hyperspace letting the TIEs destroy themselves in the process of following them.

They came out of hyperspace flying through what seemed to be a power station. More TIEs went down but not all. Poe went to make another jump when Chewie moaned.

“Yeah, well, Rey's not here, is she?” Poe yelled. They entered hyperspace once again, quickly coming out to a green gas filled planet. Two TIEs were still on their tail.

“Poe” Rose said worriedly

Out of the gas came a giant worm creature, the Falcon heading directing into its mouth.

“Last jump, maybe forever”

“Poe!” Rose screamed the panel in front of her had set alight. Just as they launched into hyperspace just before the creature's mouth, leaving the TIE's to be gobbled up.

***

Rey stood in front of Leia, looking embarrassed.

“I didn't finish the training course. Got distracted.” Leia gave her a knowing look, she was good at them. “I think I'm just tired. That's all”

Rey pulled the saber off her belt handing it to Leia. “I will be ready for it soon, just not yet” BB-8 perked up then chirping away. “No, you can't do it for me.”

“Never underestimate a droid,” Leia said.

“General, Rey!” Oana said, “The Falcon's just arrived back.”

Rey raced after Oana wanting to see her friends, but Leia however, stayed behind heading instead to the briefing area.

She heard lots of shouting as everyone headed to where the Falcon had landed. The fire crew passed her as they made it to the clearing, making her speed up.

“It's on fire!” She heard Poe yell “Whole thing's on fire. All of it. It's on fire.”

“Hey,” Rey said as Poe walked towards her.

“Hey”

“There's a spy,” she asked.

“Really could have used your help out there.”

“How'd it go?” she said pressing him for answers

“Really bad, actually. Really bad.”

“Han's ship...” she said looking up at her poor ship spewing fire.

“What'd you do to the droid?”

She looked around to see BB-8 had followed her

“What'd you do to the Falcon?” she asked evading his question.

“The Falcon's in a lot better shape than he is,” he said indignantly

“BB-8's not on fire,” Rey said knowing that BB-8 had only been slightly damaged by the tree that had accidentality fallen on him.

“What's left of him isn't on fire,” Poe said sounding like a worried father.

“Tell me what happened?” she asked

“You tell me first.”

“You know what you are?”

“What?” he asked.

“You're difficult. Really difficult. You're a difficult man.” Rey said getting annoyed so much she was repeating herself. For a while, she and Poe had been at each other's throats. Mainly over Rey's refusal to go on any missions and especially when Finn took her side in such matters.

“You, you are...” Poe stuttered unable to come up with a good retort.

“Rey,” Finn said as he, Chewie and Rose approached them.

“Finn, oh. You made it back” she said pulling him into a hug.

“Yeah. Barely”

“So, bad mood?” she asked

“Me?”

“Him,” she said pointing in Poe's direction.

“Always. I don't know what's wrong with him at the moment”

“Do we have a spy?” she asked desperate to know the truth.

“Well...”

But before she could find out, Chewie grunted loudly as Rose skipped up to her.

“Compressor is still down, Rey. And I agreed with Chewie, he was being stupid”

Rey turned on Poe “You lightspeed skipped?”

“Yeah, well, it got us back here, didn't it?” Poe said.

“Poe, the compressor's down.”

“Oh, I know, I was there,” Poe said annoyed.

“Every time” Finn muttered.

“You can't lightspeed skip the Falcon” she shouted at him.

“Actually, it turns out you can.”

“All right guys, we just landed, okay?” Finn said trying to quell the argument.

“What happened?” Rey asked insisting on getting some answers.

“Bad news, that's what happened.”

“No spy?” she guessed

“No. Spy.”

“Did we make contact with a spy or not?” she asked confused.

“There's a mole in the First Order, and they sent us a message,” Finn confirmed

“You dropped a tree on him?” Poe asked BB-8 had obviously told him what happened on the training course.

“By the way Rey” Rose called a ways away standing next to Chewie. “He blew both sub-alternators!”

“Thanks, Rose, really helpful,” Finn said awkwardly

“Really?” Rey said glaring daggers at him.

“Well, you know what...”

“Guys,” Finn said but Poe spoke over him.

“Maybe you should've been out there with us!”

“You know why I can't be” she yelled at him

“You're the best fighter we have, Rey. We need you. Out there, not here.” And with that Poe walked away.

“I'm sorry Rey, but he has a point,” Finn said heading off to join Poe.

Rey spent the afternoon working on the Falcon with Chewie and Rose. Rose was the only one who understood Rey's reasons for staying behind. Partly because she was the only she had told the truth to.

Finn, Poe and Leia knew that Ben would come after her and put them and the Resistance in danger, but she had trusted Rose with the reasons why he was coming after her. Something about the young girl made her feel able to talk to her about anything.

And Rose had kept her secrets, giving her opinion and advice where possible. But it was a difficult circumstance, Rey had even had trouble admitting the truth to herself.

In the late evening. a meeting was called to discuss the message from the spy. Everyone had gathered and was ready to listen to what Poe had to tell them.

“We've decoded the intel from the First Order spy and what I'm gonna say is gonna be hard to understand” He started “Our spy has informed us of a plot, inside the leadership of the First Order. Something called the Final Order, they've been gathering intent for the past few weeks after a Wayfinder was found. They say it's a compass to the unknown regions, where a massive fleet has been forming since the fall of the Empire.”

The word Wayfinder clicked something in Rey's mind and she dashed from the meeting to grab one of the Jedi texts. Everyone else was panicking wondering what it meant.

“We need to find this Wayfinder and destroy the fleet before they can take hold of every free planet,” Maz Kanata said firmly

“Question is how do we get it?” Leia asked.

“Well, our informant has told us there are two left in existence. Vader's and the Emperor's. Vader's was found on Mustafar, but the Emperor's is still lost.”

“So how do we find that one?” Rose asked.

“General,” Rey said as everyone turned to look at her. “Can I speak with you?”

Leia led Rey away from the others and then she began to speak.

“Luke was looking for the Wayfinder as well, he nearly found it.” She showed Leia the text “There are ciphers here I can't read but he said that one would lead to the planet of the Sith, Exegol.”

“So... what's the plan then?” Leia asked

Rey took a breath then spoke “I'm going to search for it and find Exegol”

Leia sighed “Finally. Rey, you're ready”

Rey smiled as Leia held up the lightsaber up to her. It was time.


	29. Pasaana

Chapter 29 – Pasaana

The compressor on the Falcon was fixed thanks to Rose and Chewie's hard work. Rey had just finished refuelling the Falcon just as Poe, Finn, Chewie and C3-PO all came walking towards her.

“So you got her up and running?” Poe asked Rey as he came up to her.

“You were right before” she conceded “I'm gonna pick up Luke's search for Exegol. I'm gonna start where his trail went cold. The forbidden desert of Pasaana.”

If she was being honest with herself, she was terrified of getting back out into the galaxy. She had never felt safer than the time she had spent training with Leia on Ajan Kloss. And knowing that Ben was still out there, wanting her to join him scared her. Could she refuse him a second time? Was she strong enough?

“Yeah I know,” Poe said bring Rey away from her thoughts “We're going with you”

He and Chewie walked passed her slinging their stuff by the Falcon, as she stared at them bemused.

“Wait,” she said grabbing Finn by the arm. “I need to go alone”

The last thing she wanted to do was put them in danger.

“Yeah. Alone with friends” Finn said not getting her point.

“It's too dangerous Finn,” he said firmly.

Chewie roared his approval and the BB-8 came rolling over beeping away, C3-PO trailing behind him. “I wholeheartedly agree”

She sighed seeing that she was outvoted.

So, in the end, they all started gathering what they would need for the trip and readied the ship. All that was left to do was say their goodbyes.

“Last chance, Rose,” Finn said as he and Rey made their way over to Rose.

“The General's asked me to stay behind, she has another mission for me while you're away”

“I'll see you when we get back then” he smiled pulling her into a hug. They broke apart and Finn left Rose and Rey alone to talk.

“So Leia asked you to stay behind,” Rey asked.

“Yeah, I expect she's just looking for some company now you're off” Rose smiled. Rey didn't believe that for a second, Leia was the most independent person she knew. No, something else was going on.

“Hey, Rey just remember whatever happens out there, you have a family and a home waiting for you right here” Rose put her arms around Rey giving her a rather tight hug, and Rey knew Rose meant what she said.

“Hey, we should get going,” Poe said as Rose let go of her. Rose waved them off.

When they reached the Falcon, they found Leia waiting for them.

Poe went to speak to her first, Leia placed a hand on Poe's cheek giving him a warm smile. Rey spun around, not wanting to intrude on their private moment. Rey saw that 3-PO standing next to R2-D2.

“In the event that I do not return...” she heard 3-PO say “I want you to know that you have been a real friend R2, my best one in fact” She watched as the droid shuffled away as R2 beeped happily.

Rey heard footsteps behind her then, she turned around to see Leia standing in front of her. She wasn't sure what to say to the older woman, so much had been left unsaid.

“There's so much I want to tell you,” she said almost in tears

“Tell me when you get back,” she said pulling Rey into a hug “Rey, never be afraid of who you are”

A tear fell down her cheek, Leia had never steered her wrong before, so she would trust in her words. No matter what was waiting out there as she knew Leia would be there to help if the time came.

Rey let go knowing that she really did need to get going. The Falcon set off within minutes. Rey and Chewie piloting, while Finn and Poe sat behind them.

Chewie grunted and Rey thought he was right, even if she was scared of what awaited her, it was good to be back flying the Falcon.

“It is,” she told him. And they left Ajan Kloss ready for their next adventure.

***

Ren was sat pulling at one of his gloves, listening as his officer droned on in another boring council meeting. That was until a decapitated head was slammed on the table in front of him. He looked down at the green horned head disgusted.

“We have a spy,” Vicrul said to the room at large. Ren perked up at that news. “They've sent a message to Resistance from the very heart of our inner circle”

All six of his knights had gathered at the other end of the table looking suspiciously at everyone at the table.

“And what was in this message?” he asked staring directly at Hux.

“Far too much of our future plans to be safe” Ushar said vaguely.

“The scavenger, if it's true she is training to be a Jedi, that could tip the balance and send the rest of the galaxy to her side,” Kuruk said speaking up.

“I believe our priority should be finding her before the Resistance tries to take a stand against us,” Vicrul added

Ren wanted to roll his eyes, it was a lame excuse and they knew it. But if he played along it would give him a chance to find Rey before they could and maybe find out some more of what they were up to.

“Very well, General Hux I will be leaving you in charge while my knights and I go hunting.”

“Yes, Supreme Leader,” he said slimly. Ren wanted to smack him every time he spoke.

“Master, why should you concern yourself with such little matters, we are perfectly capable of retrieving the girl,” Ap'lek said nervously.

“I shall be joining you on this mission. I have unfinished business with the girl. I still own her for Snoke” he lied.

He could sense the unease past between his knights, but there was no way they were leaving him behind.

“Put a bounty out on her, hopefully we'll get somewhere with that.”

***

Pasaana was similar to Jakku in many ways, Rey thought. It put her on edge. The never-ending sand, the desolate feeling, the emptiness. That was until they climbed up one of the rocky outcrops and rounded a corner hearing thunderously loud music and crowds cheering.

“You sure this is it?” Poe asked

“These are the exact coordinates that Master Luke left behind,” C3-PO told them.

“Then what is this?” Poe said looking down at the crowds below.

“The Aki-Aki festival of the ancestors. This celebration occurs only once every forty-two years.”

“Well that's lucky,” Finn said sarcastically

“Lucky indeed. The festival is known for both its colorful kites and its delectable sweets”

They all turned to stare as the golden droid in dismay. He seemingly did not sense anything amiss with what he had said. And turned around to see what they were all staring at, only to see nothing behind him.

They travelled down into the festival making their way through the crowds, Rey beamed watching the dancing and colorful smoke flying in the air.

“I've never seen anything like this,” she said

“I've never seen so few wayfinders,” Finn said annoyed.

“There's always random First Order patrols in crowds like these” Poe called back “So keep your heads down. Chewie.” Chewie grumbled but bent down all the same.

Rey was so fascinated by everything around she barely heard what Poe was saying.

“Let's split up, see what the locals know,” he said walking away with Finn and Chewie.

C3-PO and B-88 stayed with Rey as she watched some of the young children laughing at a puppet show.

Rey couldn't remember anything about her own childhood before Jakku, she wondered if she had ever been so happy. She was grateful that at least those children's lives would be full of laughter and not having to worry about surviving the day.

Rey felt a tugging on the pants leg then. One of the natives was staying behind her speaking in a language she couldn't understand.

“She is saying, welcome” 3-PO translated. Rey knelt down and let the girl put a beaded necklace over her head. “Her name is Nambi Ghima”

“That's an excellent name. I'm Rey”

“She would be honored to know your family name, too,” 3-PO told her.

“I don't have one” Rey said trying to hide her sadness “I'm just Rey”

Just then she sensed the air changing and she stood up, trying to quickly move away from the connection that was opening. But something was different. The connection seemed to follow her like it never had before.

The sounds around her died in her ears and the day turned to night.

***

Ren had just left his council meeting and returned to his quarters, when he felt the connection between himself and Rey begin to open. He stood still hoping that today would be that she would talk to him.

He felt her pulling away but then wonder of wonders she was standing in front of him. She seemed as surprised as he was, the Force really was trying to bring them together one way or another.

It was the first time he had seen her properly in over a year, she looked different. Healthier, her clothes were pure white, she looked every bit the Jedi she was training to be. Her hair was most changed, much longer than a year ago and no longer in her three buns but braided down her shoulder.

His mother's handiwork he knew, no one else could braid hair so perfectly. A twinge of jealousy passed through him remembering the days when his mother would braid his hair in the Naboo or Alderaan styles. He realised then that he had been staring at Rey for far too long.

“We can't escape this Rey, the Force won't let us,” he said as she bristled under his gaze.

“You mean you won't,” she said angrily.

“My knights are coming after you, they have plans they've been keeping secret from me”

“Can't even control your own men anymore” She mocked

“I will find you before them. We need to talk properly, face to face”

“I don't want to speak to you now. Let alone face to face” she said

“There's so much you don't know Rey, your life on Jakku, this connection. We can figure it all out together if you come to me”

“The day you wish to talk about your father and your mother, maybe I'll listen. I don't want to hear anything else. Because you won't be ready to until I can no longer see the regret in your eyes.” she told him.

“Do you know what I see in your eyes?” he asked her, stepping closer to her. He'd seen the necklace she was wearing, it could give him a clue to her location. “Longing. I will offer you my hand again one day and you will take it because you know this thing between us is right.”

“We'll see”

She was watching him so intently she barely noticed him snatch the necklace from her until it was ripped off her neck. The necklace was in his hand but Rey had disappeared.

***

Finn, Poe and Chewie we're trying to talk to one of the locals and failing miserably, when Rey came running up to them, 3-PO and BB-8 following her.

“We have to go. Back to the Falcon. Now.” Rey said breathlessly

“Why?” Finn asked

“He's coming,” she said, Finn knew who she was talking about, just seeing the fear in her eyes.

They started making their way back through the crowds, knowing Rey was right. They didn't know how but Rey always had a sense for those sorts of things, Force mumbo jumbo he knew, not that he understood it.

They were on the outskirts of the festival when they came skidding to a stop.

“Freeze! Hold it right there.” The trooper was pointing his blaster at them “I've located the Resistance fugitives. All units, report...”

But before he could say anything further an arrow was shot into his eye and he fell backwards.

They turned to see their saviour, seeing a masked man with a crossbow.

“Follow me,” he said walking away. They trailed after him as he entered a transport.  
“Hurry!”

Poe got up first and Rey followed just as the stranger spoke.

“Leia sent me a transmission,” he said then he spoke to the driver in a language Finn didn't understand

“How'd you find us?” Finn asked.

The man took off his mask to reveal his face. Lando Calrissian was standing in front of them.

“Wookiees stand out in a crowd.” he laughed

Chewie moaned, going to hug his old friend.

“It's good to see you too, old buddy”

“This is General Lando Calrissian,” C3-PO told them.

“We know who he is 3-PO” Rey confirmed

“It is an honor to see you again General” Finn gushed

“Lando, we're here looking for a Wayfinder to Exegol,” Poe told him.

“Of course you are.” He said knowingly, looking around at the group. He brought up a hologram image of a Wayfinder. “Only two are left”

“Luke Skywalker came here to find one,” Rey said.

“I know” he chuckled. “I was with him. Luke and I were tailing an old Jedi hunter. Ochi of Bestoon.” He brought up an image of the Jedi hunter. “He was carrying a clue that could lead to a Wayfinder. We followed his ship halfway across the galaxy here. When we got to his ship it was abandoned. No clue. No Wayfinder.”

“That was what you were helping Luke out with before...” Finn asked feeling like he shouldn't have said anything.

“Yes, before I lost my wife and son,” he said sadly.

Rey looked awkwardly around but asked her next question.

“Is Ochi's ship still here?”

“It's out in the desert, where he left it,” he said staring at Finn's eyes.

“We need to get to that ship. Search it again,” she said.

That was when they heard TIE fighters approaching. Lando looked outside seeing them all.

“I got a bad feeling about this,” he said and then turned to Rey. “Ochi's ship is out past Lurch Canyon. Go.”

“Thank you General,” Poe said leaving the transport.

Chewie grunted and then left as well.

“You too, Chewie.”

“It was nice to finally meet you, General” Rey said.

“My pleasure Rey, Leia didn't tell me how beautiful you were,” He said charming her.

Rey snorted and left along with 3-PO and BB-8. Leaving only Finn and Lando behind.

“What made you change your mind, sir?” Finn asked. The last time they had met Lando was adamant on not returning to the fight, so what had brought him back?

“Well my boy, it was you. Your spirit inspired me,” he said jovially

“I don't understand,” Finn said confused

“Will talk more soon, right now you've got a job to do” he smiled and Finn still puzzled left the transport following the others.

The gang ran as fast as they could away from where the TIE's were coming from.

“There! Those speeders.” Poe yelled pointing to a pair of speeders. He ducked underneath one of them starting it up with nothing but its wires. And then he went to do the other.

“How do you know how to do that?” Finn asked suspiciously.

They heard angry voices behind them then as the natives saw what they were doing.

“We gotta go,” Poe said dashing to one of the speeders with Finn and 3-PO. While Rey, Chewie and BB-8 got into the other.

They sped off heading out into the desert, not long after blaster fire came from behind them, two First Order speeders were chasing after them.

Finn saw Rey and Chewie shooting back at them. But they dodged every blast expertly. Stupid Ren, Finn thought.

But just then the speeders reared up and the back troopers flew into the air, jetpacks keeping them in the air.

Never had he seen First Order troopers use jet packs and he could have punched Ren in the face for it.  
“Oh! They fly now!” C3-PO wailed

“They fly now” Finn moaned

“They fly now” Poe commiserated.

Rey and Poe had split up headed opposite ways around the canyon up ahead. Sand spraying everywhere.

“Did we lose them?” Poe asked

Finn looked behind him, not seeing anyone behind them.

“Looks like it!”

“Excellent job, sir” 3-PO commented that was when one of the speeders came out of nowhere “Terrible job, sir”

Finn was knocked over as blaster fire hit the speeder, that's when he came face to face with a grappling hook.

He got to his feet, picking it up and sending it to the other speeder. It wrapped around the bottom of the troopers speeder. Finn picked up the rope attached and tied it to the speeder.

“Poe!” he called and Poe knowing what he was doing, spun their speeder around sending the other hurtling into the canyon exploding into a ball of fire, as they all cheered.

They came out of the canyon seeing that Chewie and Rey were ahead of them. No troopers insight. Finn noticed that Rey seemed distracted too focused on the ship in the distance.

“Rey! You get all of them?” he shouted as she turned to look at him. But before she could answer a trooper on a jet pack came flying down at them shooting Rey and the others out of their speeder. And then doing the same to Finn's and they all fell into a gravelly pit.

They all made a grab for their weapons as the trooper went flying passed and they managed to shoot him down easily. It was at that moment they all noticed they were sinking.

“What the hell is this?” Poe said struggling.

“Sinking field! Try to grab something” Rey yelled But there was nothing around to grab.

“Will this agony ever end?” 3-PO complained.

“BB-8!” Rey called and the little sank below.

“Poe!” Finn called, hating to think of his last moments and never telling Poe the truth. “Poe, I never told you...”

But his mouth was covered before he said anymore.

“Oh come on” He heard Poe call as the blackness consumed Finn.


	30. The Missing Piece

Chapter 30 – The Missing Piece

Leia was in the middle of a conversation with Rose when Snap approached them.

“General, we've got a report from Lando that the First Order has raided the Festival of Ancestors” he informed them.

“Well we knew this was coming, the order is bound to find them in such a populated area,” Leia said

“There's something else General”

“What now?” Rose said exasperated

“The Supreme Leader was sighted entering the atmosphere on Pasaana. Just as the others managed to flee”

“Any word from Rey?” Leia asked

“Falcon's not responding,” he said dejectedly

“Do you have to say it like that?” Rose complained

“Like what?”

“Do me a personal favour? Be optimistic” Leia asked him.

“Yes ma'am. Uh, this is... this is terrific. You're not gonna believe how well this is gonna turn out” he said putting it on a bit too thick.

Rose sighed walking away.

“Would you mind going to Maz and tell her that it's time? Thank you Snap” Leia said trying to be as pleasant as possible. Before she went after Rose, following her until she stopped in front of one of the monitors, arms crossed and with a stone-faced expression.

As soon as she heard Leia come up behind her she spoke.

“I should have gone with” she grumbled.

“I'm sorry Rose, there were more than enough of them going on that mission and you understand why I asked you to stay behind soon,” Leia told her. She saw that Rose still wasn't happy about it though. “As I told you before I need some help for what comes next and you're the only one who can help me with this. And my dear it's time we get going”

“Get going where?” Rose asked in surprise.

“That's not important at the moment”

Leia could tell that Rose was not happy with all the secrets. But if anyone else knew what she might have to ultimately do. They would certainly try to stop her. But after what happened before the battle of Crait, she knew Rose would trust her because no matter what she had planned it was for the betterment of all.

“And who's gonna be in charge, while we're gone?” Rose said still not convinced.

“D'acy and Kaydel are perfectly capable of taking care of things here until the others get back. And Maz will also be here to help.”

Rose still looked incredibly frustrated, but she and Leia made her way over to one of the shuttles all the same. Maz was already there waiting for them. Rose hopped inside to prepare for takeoff.

“The ship's just been refuelled and R2 is already inside and setting the coordinates in the nav computer,” Maz said walking forward and taking Leia's hand “I know you know what must be done to reach him now, but please only do it if absolutely necessary”

“Thank you Maz, for all your help over the years”

Maz smiled sadly and watched as Leia went aboard the ship. As soon as Leia was seated they departed for Leia's hidden destination.

***

Rey was the last to sink into the field. She gasped for air as she went under, but the earth was too dense for her to breathe in. As she sank further her legs were pushed up to her chest. She felt herself slowing down and then become stuck, she panicked pushing against the earth above, grunting and struggling.

That's when she felt a gap come under her, and then a hand on her back and legs. Poe was lowering her to the ground.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Yeah” she answered catching her breath.”Where's Chewie?”

“Where's Finn?” Poe asked worriedly

That was when they heard a loud thump and a groan as Chewie fell for above.

Rey could barely see around her but she was aware they were in a sort of tunnel as stumbled out of a connecting tunnel.

“I'm good,” Finn said sounding a bit disorientated.

“Ah master Finn” C3-PO said as BB-8 beeped cheerfully.

“What is this place?” Finn asked.

“This isn't the afterlife is it, are droids even allowed here?” 3-PO wondered aloud not that anyone was really paying that much attention to him.

“I thought we were goners,” Poe said as Finn walked over to him and clapped him on the back.

“We might still be” 3-PO interjected.

“Which way out?”Finn asked

Rey grabbed the lightsaber off her belt and held it up to use as a light source. She ignited the saber and scanned either end of the tunnel.

Poe got his torch out and lit it just like Rey had done with the saber. But the light coming from it could simply not compete with the light from the saber.

Rey turned to the right, the tunnel going that way had an incline and she thought their back chance was to head for the high ground. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Finn smirking at Poe as he tossed the torch in his hand.

“We have to hurry,” she said walking away from the pair.

As they walked through the tunnels, Rey in the lead she could hear Poe and Finn talking behind her.

“So what was it?” Poe asked

“What?” Finn said confused.

“What you were gonna tell me?”

“When?” he asked

“When you were sinking in the sand you said 'I never told you...'”

“I'll tell you later,” he whispered.

“Oh sure we're about to die and you're keeping secrets,” Poe said annoyed, walking away from Finn and in front of Rey going further into the tunnels.

“I'll tell you when you tell us about all that shifty stuff you do,” he called after him.

They continued through the tunnels, Poe leading the way. He shined his torch to his left and got a nervous look on his face.

“I do not wanna know what made these tunnels”

“Judging by the circumference of the tunnel walls-” but 3-PO was cut off from saying more as Poe spoke up angrily

“I said I do not wanna know. Not.”

They went around another corner and saw a large object covered in sand. They all gathered around it. “What's that?” Poe asked

“Is that a speeder?” Finn questioned looking to Rey.

“An older one” she confirmed.

“Perhaps we will find the driver” C3-PO added.

BB-8 beeped then as his voice to the conversation.

“Yep, BB-8 I think dead too,” Poe said agreeing with his droid.

“Oh my! A hex charm” 3-PO said alarmed as he stared at a symbol on top of the speeder.

“A what?” Finn asked

“A common emblem of Sith loyalists” 3-PO answered.

“Sith,” Rey said

“This was Ochi's” Finn wondered aloud.

“Luke sensed it Ochi never left this place” Rey replied walking away from the speeder.

“And he ended up down here,” Finn said

“He was headed for his ship. Same thing happened to us, happened to him.” Poe surmised.

“So how did Ochi get out?” Finn asked.

“He didn't,” Rey answered. Down the tunnel, she had found the skeletal remains of Ochi of Bestoon.

“No he didn't” Finn confirmed as he and Poe joined her.

“Bones,” Poe said squeamishly “I don't like bones”

“Bones? Never a good sign” C3-PO added.

BB-8 whizzed forward chirping about something on the ground.

“Yeah, I see it,” Rey said stepping over to where BB-8 was pointing to.

And from the sand, Rey pulled out a curiously shaped dagger. She held it up, feeling an awful energy around it. She could have sworn she heard a scream coming from it the moment she picked it up. “Horrible things have happened with this”

“There's writing on it,” Poe said peering over at the dagger.

“Perhaps I can translate” 3-PO offered and Rey passed him the dagger. “Oh the location of the Wayfinder, has been inscribed upon this dagger. It's the clue Master Luke was looking for”

“And?” Poe said expectantly

“Where's the Wayfinder?” Finn asked impatiently.

“I'm afraid I can not tell you”

“20.3 fazillion languages, you can't read that?” Poe said frustrated.

“Oh, I have read it, sir. I know exactly where the Wayfinder is. Unfortunately, it is written in the runic language of the Sith.” 3-PO explained.

“So what?” Rey said getting annoyed as the others.

“My programming forbids me from translating it.”

“So, you're telling us the one we need you to talk, you can't?” Poe said irritatedly

“Irony, sir. I am mechanically incapable of speaking translations of Sith” 3-PO said edging away from Poe, who looked ready to throttle him. “I believe the rule was passed by the senate of the old republic-”

But as the droid had spoken, no one had noticed that a giant serpent had snuck up on them until it rose up above 3-PO. The three in front of him jumped back and BB-8 rolled behind Rey hiding. The serpent snarled as 3-PO dropped the dagger and ran away screaming.

“Serpent! Serpent! Serpent!”

The creature rose up higher. Just as Rey was able to sense its pain. She looked to Poe and lowered his weapon. She walked forward handing the lightsaber to Finn.

“Rey,” he said as a whispered warning.

But she kept walking cautiously forward. She paused when the serpent snarled again in fear. She could feel the anxiety from the others behind her.

She looked down at the serpent's tail and saw a rather large wound. She knew the way to calm the beast was to help it. So she took another few steps forward. She could hear Poe and Finn muttering behind her, probably concerned for her safety.

She stepped into the serpent's coil as the creature growled softly, waiting to see what she would do. She knelt down, placing a hand gently on the wound. The serpent hissed, the wound was causing it a lot of pain.

Rey closed her eyes trusting the creature not to harm her. She breathed deeply feeling for the light inside her, guiding it to her hand and then through her fingers to the wound.

She felt that the wound was almost healed, she opened her eyes and saw the serpent close its many eyes in relief. Then it looked at Rey with thanks, before uncoiling and moving away down into another tunnel.

As it moved, light came pouring through from outside, their way out revealed. BB-8 came over to Rey beeping concernedly as the other many their way out.

“I just transferred a bit of life. Force energy from me to him,” she said rubbing her hand after the transfer. BB-8 beeping again “You would have done the same for me”

Though she had the Jedi texts, she was unable to translate them. Luke had had better luck but only on the bits that pertained to Exegol. Other than one page which she had studied long and hard.

A power lost to the Jedi when the location of the first Jedi temple faded into history. The power to give life to another living thing. Rey had been practising on Ajan Kloss but she'd only tried on dying plants before. It had always left her with the feeling of pins and needles in her fingers every time a flower bloomed again. But her whole hand felt numb after healing the serpent.

She walked out of the hole in the tunnel and found that they were right above where Ochi's ship stood. Chewie followed after her, letting her know that he'd put the dagger in his satchel after 3-PO had dropped it.

Finn had waited for her and handed the saber back to her.

“Let's fire up this ship and get out of here,” Poe said

“We cannot possibly fly in that old wreck” 3-PO complained.

“We gotta keep moving,” Poe said climbing up to reach the ship. “Find someone who can translate that dagger. Like a helpful droid”

“I suggest we return to the Millennium Falcon at once,” 3-PO said rather vigorously.

“They'll be waiting for us at the Falcon.”

“Yeah, they'll throw us in the pits of Griq,” Finn said

“Yeah and use you as a target droid” Poe agreed as Finn gave him a leg up onto the next ledge.

“You both make excellent points, at times.”

Rey felt a chill go through her then and she walked away from the others fearing another connection. But the sensation was different and then she understood why. He was there, he'd already found her.

“What is it?” Finn asked standing right behind her.

“I'll be right back,” she said handing him her staff and bag to him “It's okay”

And with that, she walked down into the desert waiting for him to arrive. She could hear the ship's engine start-up behind her.

She was going into panic mode but she took some deep breaths and calmed herself down long enough to remember her training. She took the saber off her belt and readied herself. She knew that whatever was about to happen, she was not going to let him follow her anymore.

***

Ren had taken the necklace to be traced the moment he got it. The unfortunate thing was that his knights were with him when his officer told him, they were on Pasaana. So he could not go alone.

They found the Falcon abandoned first and then heard about the chase through the desert, the knights had gone ahead of him.

He was racing through the desert in his TIE, feeling Rey's presence close by when Cardo came over the comms.

“Master, we have apprehended the Wookie, Chewbacca and are taking him away as a bargaining chip”

Ren's hand gripped the ship's controls tighter, he felt guilty the Wookie had once been his Uncle Chewie.

“Good, evacuate the troopers. I have the girl in my sights” he said seeing Rey in the distance.

She looked bizarre in the middle of the desert, she was knelt on the ground looking like she was going to break out into a sprint.

And then she did. Her lightsaber in her hand, he would outrun her easily. But just as he reached her, she jumped over his ship and sliced one of the wings off.

The ship spun out of control and lost its other wing, so he was rolling away in a ball. He was able to jump out just as the ship exploded. He fell down right by the ship and used it to pull himself up.

Then he flailed in pain, he'd burnt his hand touching the ship. He took his singed glove off and saw a red burn mark in the middle of his palm.

He trudged forward, discarding his glove. He was headed back to where Rey was, when he saw a curious sight. She was using the Force to drag back the troopers transport. He picked up his speed. Holding his hand out to push the ship away.

They struggled with the ship between them, one pushing, one pulling. Rey strained to pull as hard as she could, she was losing Ren saw. She could not fight against the ship's engines and Ren.

But then out of nowhere, lightning shot out of Rey's hand, making the transport burst into flames. Ren flinched staring at Rey in surprise.

“Chewie!” He heard her scream and then she collapsed to the ground.

Then it clicked for him, she had thought Chewbacca was onboard that transport. She thought she'd killed her friend.

He had to tell her the truth, he sprinted towards her, he noticed the traitor doing the same, but he was faster. He reached her seeing she was in a ball of tears clutching at her chest.

“Rey,” he said placing his hand on top of hers. Images flooded his mind, too fast for him to process in that moment and by the look of Rey's face, she'd seen something too.

Rey looked at him in fear she raised her hand using the Force subconsciously to send him flying back.

“No!” she screamed getting to her feet and running away with FN-2187.

They fled in a strange ship, Ren watching them going. He was still on the ground, one image flooding his mind.

A man digging in the sand with a shovel.

It seemed Pasaana may hold a missing piece to Ren’s puzzle.


	31. The Trio

Chapter 31 – The Trio

Fleeing from Pasaana was not an easy task. Even with Ben unable to follow Rey and the others, numerous TIE's had followed them into space.

They jumped into hyperspace and quickly coming out in the middle of an asteroid field. Thanks to Poe's miraculous flying skills, they were able to glide smoothly through the field. While the TIE's ended up crashing into the asteroids.

Poe hid them in between two of the largest asteroids believing it was a better place than any other at that moment.

Rey was stood in the back corner of the ship, staring at her hand still unable to process that lightning had come from it and that it had killed Chewie.

She could feel Poe and Finn's eyes on her, she felt their worry and caution as they approached her.

“I lost control,” she said still not taking her eyes off her hand.

“It wasn't your fault,” Finn said trying to console her.

“It was” she whispered

“No. It was Ren. He made you do it.” Poe said

“Chewie's gone,” she said on the verge of tears. “That power came from me, guys there are things you don't know”

“Then tell us,” Finn said

Rey's breath shook, she had been so focused on her grief for Chewie that she had been able to block out what she had seen when Ben had touched her.

“I, uh, had a vision, when he touched my hand. Of the throne of the Sith. And who was on it.”

“Ren?” Poe guessed

“And me”

Finn took Rey by the arms and sat her down at the front of the ship. He put her head on his shoulder and softly rubbed her back. Though she was still visibly shaken, Finn's comfort meant a great deal.

“So, what are we gonna do?” Poe said sharply.

“What can we do? We gotta go back to base.” Finn answered

“We can't go back. We are not giving up. If we do that, Chewie died for nothing!” Poe said strongly

“Poe, Chewie had the dagger!”

“Well, then we gotta find another way,” he said stubbornly.

“There isn't. That was the only clue to the Wayfinder thing, and it's gone”

“So true” C3-PO said from the other side of the ship “The inscription lives only in my memory now.”

They all turned to stare at the droid then.

“Hold on. The inscription that was on the dagger is in your memory?” Poe asked

“Yes, master Poe. But the translation from a forbidden language cannot be retrieved. That is short of a complete redacted memory bypass”

“A complete what?” Finn asked.

“It's a terribly dangerous and sinful act performed on unwitting droids by dregs and criminals,” 3-PO explained.

“Let's do that,” Finn suggested.

“I know a black market droidsmith,” Poe said his mind turning quickly

“Black market droidsmith?” 3-PO said alarmed

“But he's on Kijimi,” Poe said frustrated.

“What's wrong with Kijimi?” Finn asked.

“I had a little bit of bad luck on Kijimi,” he said vaguely “But if this mission fails, it's all been for nothing. All we've done, all this time.”

“We're all in this,” Finn said standing up, looking to Poe and then Rey. “Until the end”

Rey stood up as well then “For Chewie”

Finn took Rey's hand and then held out the other to Poe.

“Hands?” Finn said

“Hands” Poe agreed, taking Finn's hand gently into his.

“For Chewie”

3-PO came shuffling towards them and took Poe's other hand. Rey could feel awkwardness swelling in Poe, he raised 3-PO and Finn's hands.

“Kijimi,” he said releasing their hands and heading back to the cockpit. He moved them out of the asteroid field and shot into hyperspace as they were clear.

Rey had stayed sat where she was while Finn had joined Poe in the cockpit. She sat there numbly, that was until BB-8 approached her with another droid in tow.

“Hello,” the cone-shaped droid said rolling forward.

“Hello,” Rey said softly, stretching her hand out.

“No, no, thank you,” the droid said rolling away.

BB-8 beeped to Rey concerned.

“Looks like someone treated him badly. It's all right. You're with us now.” she said to the little droid. BB-8 chirped agreeing with Rey.

The ship shook then as they came out of hyperspace. They had arrived on Kijimi.

***

Ren was in a daze as he strode through the corridors of his star destroyers. Pasaana had been very illuminating and then when he had gotten his hands on Chewbacca's possessions.

He'd found a dagger inside with Sith runes written on it, which were directions to the Emperor's Wayfinder.

All he needed to do was find Rey and they could go after the Wayfinder together and with what he had found out, she would join him in no time.

It was then that he saw Hux walking down the corridor the opposite way to Ren, looking far too pleased with himself. Ren wondered why? That's when he got an idea.

He would never have tried it if Snoke was still around but Ren was in charge, not Snoke.

So just as Hux was about to pass him, he stepped into his path.

“Yes, Supreme Leader” Hux sneered.

“What are you keeping from me?” Ren said compelling him to answer.

“The... the...” Hux said trying to fight his control.

He was stronger than Ren thought, he pushed harder and Hux could no longer hold back.

“The Knights of Ren have tracked the scavenger to a settlement called Kijimi. We shall be destroying the city as soon as they have her” His eyes were wide and fearful, shocked that he had given away crucial information.

Ren held up his index finger and Hux froze.

“With what weapon?” he asked.

“A Sith creation, Vicrul sent a team to retrieve it after Mustafar,” he said with terror in his eyes.

“You'll forget all of this and go back to what you were doing” he directed Hux. He could feel him fighting from inside his mind, but Ren was so much stronger.

Hux stood up a bit straighter and walked away almost robotically.

Ren knew what he had to do then and he would not have to go looking for Rey any longer, she would go to him.

***

Poe crept from wall to wall dodging the searchlights and troopers as he snuck back to the others waiting for him on the outskirts of the city.

He was not happy to be back on Kijimi, he'd left behind too much unfinished business. And the First Order presence in the city had increased since his last visit.

“They're everywhere,” Poe said joining the others hidden behind a wall. “All right, I know what we should do”

“So do I. We should leave” C3-PO said unhappily

“Clam it, 3-PO,” Poe said getting increasingly annoyed with the tall droid. “Follow me”

They all left their hiding place, Poe in the lead. They hurried down an alleyway, hiding behind another wall.

“All right, let's head down this way-” Poe paused then as a blaster was cocked at his head.

“Heard you were spotted at Monk's gate,” a masked woman said. He noticed they were surrounded by members of his old crew. “Thought, 'He's not stupid enough to come back here'”

“Oh, you'd be surprised”

“Who's this?” Rey asked coming around the corner to see what was going on.

“What's going on?” Finn said joining her.

“Guys, this is Zorii. Zorii, this is Rey and Finn” He said hastily.

“I could pull this trigger right now” she threatened

“I've seen you do worse” Poe agreed

“For a lot less,” she said

“Can we just, uh talk about this?” he said pulling his hood down and turning to look at her.

“I wanna see your brains in the snow,” she said fiercely.

“So, you're still mad?” he said trying to use his old charms on her. “Zorii, we could really use your help. We gotta crack this droid's head open and fast”

“Pardon me!” 3-PO said shocked

“We're trying to find Babu Frik”

“Babu? Babu only works with the crew. That's not you anymore.” she said spitefully

“What crew?” Rey asked

“Oh, funny he never mentioned it.” she said as Poe desperately tried to stop her “Your friend's old job was running spice.”

“You were a spice runner?” Finn asked surprised

“You were a stormtrooper?”

“Were you a spice runner?” Rey asked curiously

“Were you a scavenger?” he asked his voice breaking and cheeks flushed. “I had a rebellious phase”

“Poe, you were part of the rebellion!” Rey said exasperated.

“Yeah, and it was as boring as hell back then, all politics. I needed some adventure so I hitched a ride here” he explained “Look we could do this all night”

“You don't have all night” Zorii butted in as she started pacing around him, her blaster still trained on him. “You know, I'm still digging out of the hole you put me in when you left to join the Resistance.”

“I shouldn’t have left like I did,” he said trying to apologise, that's when he noticed Zorii had fixated on Rey.

“You. You're the one they're looking for. Bounty for her might just cover us.” She said to her compatriots. “Djak'kankah!”

“Don't djak'kankah” Poe begged.

Rey immediately stepped up, whacking Zorii and her three fellows to the ground in quick succession. Zorii tried to fire at Rey but a lightsaber was ignited in front of her and she surrendered.

“We could really use your help,” Rey said breathlessly. “Please”

“Not that you care...” Zorii said panting as much as Rey “But I think you're okay”

“I care,” she said extinguishing the saber and then giving her a hand up.

Zorii got to her feet and disbanded her group, each going their separate ways. Then she turned to look at Poe, even without seeing her face, he knew she was glaring at him. She walked off then and Poe knew that they were meant to follow here.

The trio followed her through the maze of streets, hearing loud thuds coming closer as they stopped waiting for a group of troopers to pass by.

“Walkers, stay close by,” she said continuing to walk once the troopers were gone.

“Poe Dameron, spice runner. Runner of spice” Finn said teasingly

“All right” Poe sighed

“Get your spice!”

“Come on, 3-PO” Rey called back as he droids had fallen behind

They had reached a very crowded bar and started pushing their way through.

“Babu's in the back,” Zorii said guiding them through the bar.

Babu was a very little chap who got to work on 3-PO extremely fast. He had him wired into his system and was searching the droid's memory.

“I haven't the faintest idea why I agreed to this. I must be malfunctioning.” 3-PO complained

Rey walked over to Babu, kneeling down next to him.

“Babu Frik? Can you help us with this?”

He spoke to her but she couldn't understand a word he was saying, she turned to Finn who shrugged his shoulders.

“Zorii? Is this gonna work?” she asked

Zorii and Babu spoke to each other for a minute, no one else understanding the conversation.

“He says he's found something in your droid's forbidden memory bank. Words, translated from Sith.”

“That's it,” Rey said

“Yeah, that's what we need.” Finn agreed.

“Who are you hanging out with that speaks Sith?” Zorii screamed turning to Poe who was over by the stairs.

“Can you make him... Babu, can you make him translate it?” Poe asked

Zorii and Babu spoke once more. “Yes. But it will cause a complete-”

“A complete memory wipe.” 3-PO finished.

“Wait, wait, wait. We make him translate it and he won't remember anything?”

“Droid, memory go blank,” Babu said brokenly.

“Oh!” 3-PO cried.

“Blank, blank”

“There must be some other way,” 3-PO said

“Doesn't R2 back up your memory?” Finn asked

“Oh, please. R2's storage units are famously unreliable”

“You know the odds better than any of us,” Rey said, “Do we have a choice?”

3-PO stood up walking away and then turning to face them.

“If this mission fails, it was all for nothing. All we've done, all this time,” he said and then stood silently watching them.

“What are you doing there, 3-PO?” Poe asked

“Taking one last look, sir. At my friends”

A bright shone through the windows then.

“Uh, oh,” Babu said

“Night raids are gonna start soon. I'll keep lookout” Zorii said

“I'm coming with you,” Poe said following her.

“You still don't trust me, huh?”Zorii scoffed

“Did you ever trust me?”

“Nope” Zorii agreed

He could hear Babu laughing in the background.

They sat on the rooftop hearing the screams and seeing the explosions in the distance.

“How long's it been like this?”

“First Order took most of the kids a long time ago. Can't stand the cries anymore. I'm saving up enough to get out, go to the Colonies.”

“How? All those hyperlanes are blocked .”

“I'll find a way soon,” she said pulling her eye visor down smiling.

“You should come with us” Poe offered “The Resistance could help get the crew off your back”

“That lifestyle is not for me Poe, you know that. But I'll let you know when I do get out, I promise you that” She said sadly.

“Well the offer is still there until the war's over,” he said sighing. “Maybe it already is. We sent out a call for help at the Battle of Crait. So many were too afraid and the others were too late. They've given up.”

“No, I don't believe you believe that. Hey,” she said getting his attention. “There's more of us. They win by making you think you're alone. And from what I can tell you are nowhere near alone”

“Yes, they're great” he smiled

“Oh, I didn't actually mean that, your trooper hasn't stopped glaring at me since we met.”

“What? Finn?” Poe said confusedly

“Yeah, you two aren't together yet.”

Poe felt heat rising in his cheeks.

“He's just protective, we've been through a lot together is all” he voice getting higher.

“Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. Why not just say something to him?”

“It's complicated,” he said scratching the back of his head. “Last year I thought there was something there and I kissed him, but he didn't kiss me back so I kind of lost hope. I think there's someone else he cares for anyway” he said hopelessly.

“The girl?” Zorii smirked “Not from where I'm standing”

They said no more, Poe simply looked off into the distance, not convinced but more determined to ask Finn, once the mission was over.”

***

While Babu was working on 3-PO, Rey knew she had some time and thought she would help his new droid friend, she found an old can and started helping him with his wheel.

“Squeaky wheel, I have a squeaky wheel.” he said, once she was finished he rolled back and forth “Squeak eliminated. Thank you, very kind”

She watched as the little droid spun happily around BB-8. Her thoughts were brought back to the ship they had found him on. A very familiar ship.

“Something's not right about all of this,” she said to Finn who had come to stand beside her.

“Hmm?”  
“I know where I've seen it. The ship he was on. Ochi's ship.” She said the image of the ship coming back to her.

“What?”

“The day my parents left. They were on that ship.”

“Are you sure?” Finn asked puzzled.

The rooftop door opened then and Zorii and Poe came running back in.

“There's an incoming destroyer,” Zorii said

“We gotta go now. Did we get it? Babu?” Poe asked.

“Yep. Droid is ready!” Babu said putting an electrical surge through 3-PO.

“The Emperor's Wayfinder is in the Imperial vault. At delta 3-6, transient 9-3-6, bearing 3-2 on a moon in the Endor system. From the southern shore. Only this blade tells. Only this blade tells.” C3-PO voice was deeper as he spoke and as soon as he was finished he powered down.

Babu cheered at his success and then started putting 3-PO back together.

“The Endor system. Where the last war ended?” Finn said

The whole room shook then. And Rey ran to the rooftop.

“Rey!” Finn called worriedly

She opened the door and saw the star destroyer above them.

“It's his destroyer” Rey confirmed

“Ren's here?” Poe said from below.

Rey felt a warm, fuzzy feeling then. Chewie's presence, he was aboard the destroyer.

“Chewie,” She said happily

“What about him?” Finn asked

“He's on the ship. He's alive”

“What? How?” Poe said confused.

“He's alive! He must've been on a different transport” she said understanding why Ben had ran to her in her grief, to tell her the truth.

“We gotta go get him,” Finn said

“Your friend's on that sky trash?” Zorii asked Poe

“I guess he is,” Poe said surprised just as 3-PO bolted up

“Might I introduce myself? I am C3-PO, human-cyborg relations. And you are?” The droid said he was back to his original settings.

“Okay, that's gonna be a problem,” Poe grumbled.

“Hello. I Babu Frik” the little chap said introducing himself to 3-PO

“Why, hello!”

Rey wasn't much worried about 3-PO's current state, no at that moment Chewie was more important, who knows what they could be doing to him, she wondered.

“Let's go” She ordered leaving the others to follow her back through the bar.


	32. The Truth

Chapter 32 – The Truth

Rey had raced ahead, going straight through the bar back onto the streets of the city. Leaving Finn and the others to catch up with her.

“3-PO move you metal ass” Poe called back to the droid who was shuffling along at the rear of their party.

“How dare you! We've only just met” 3-PO said aghast.

They made it back to where they had landed, but there was no way they were getting back on to Ochi's ship. At least a dozen troopers were searching the ship and the surrounding areas.

The group quickly scurried away, not wanting to risk being spotted by the troopers.

“What are we gonna do now?” Finn asked.

“I've got an idea, but you're not going to like it,” Rey said turning back into the city.

She was leading them to the First Order landing platforms. Finn could tell that Rey was right, he was not going to like her plan.

“Poe!” Zorii shouted as the others all paused as she spoke to Poe “I might not be coming with you but I can send the troopers on a good chase to the other side of the city.”

“I can't ask you to do this” Poe said

“You're not asking, I'm giving you a chance to get away “

“I could kiss you” Poe smiling

“We have to go, now!” Finn said

“Go! You idiot” She said pushing him to move, then she turned around heading back into the city.

They continued following Rey and she led to a secluded area where two troopers were guarding a shuttle.

“Perfect” Rey said “You guys stay here, I'll deal with them”

Finn was expecting Rey to sneak around them and knock them out. But instead, she walked straight up to them. They held up their weapons, surprised by her appearance.

“Drop your weapons,” one of them said.

“It's okay that we're here,” Rey said waving her hand at the pair.

“It's okay that you're here” The trooper repeated docilely as both of them lowered their weapons.

“It's good,” the other said

“You're relieved that we're here”

“Thank goodness you're here,” the first trooper said

“Welcome,” the other said

Then she started walking up the ramp, the troopers following her. She turned to the others a small smile on her face and she waved them over.

Poe and Finn cautiously came around the corner and walked onto the shuttle with the droids following after them.

“Does she do that to us?” Poe asked

Finn smirked.

With the troopers with them, they were able to get onto Ren's destroyers with no one the wiser, using the shuttles clearance codes.

“We're looking for a prisoner and his belongings,” Rey asked as they landed in the hanger.

The trooper gave them the directions to the detention center and that Chewie was in interrogation six. The trio headed out of the shuttle leaving the droid safely in the shuttle.

They moved through the hallways shooting out the cameras as they went. Finn was suspicious though, the ship was oddly quiet. Most of the troopers would be down in the city but where were the officers, he wondered.

“They said Chewie's this way,” Finn said, he was directing them through the ship as he was most familiar with destroyers.

The blast door in front of them was closed, he worked on getting it open while Rey and Poe stood guard. He raised his weapon the moment the door opened, expecting troopers were behind it.

“Rey, come on,” he said noticing that she was heading in the other direction.

“The dagger is on this ship. We need it” she said

“Why?” Poe asked

“A feeling. I won't be gone long”

“Rey you can't just-” Finn said but broke off as Rey walked away, Poe put a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

“Chewie” he reminded him. And with that they continued into the detention center, they made it to interrogation six and got the door open.

They ran inside finding Chewie alone restrained to the wall his paws pinned behind his back. Chewie grunted relieved.

“Of course we came for you, Chewie” Poe as he and Finn uncuffed the Wookie from the wall.

Chewie moaned worriedly.

“Yeah, Rey's here. She gonna get the dagger” Finn said

As soon as Chewie was free, they started jogging sneakily through the corridors as Chewie groaned. He felt vulnerable without his weapon.

They were making their way to find Rey when they heard footsteps. They scrambled to find an open door as two officers came walking down the hallway.

They made it inside a room hurriedly as the officer's footsteps got closer. Finn looked around as the door closed, they were in a systems room, data point and monitor filling the empty room.

It was then that it occurred to Finn that the records on board could give him a clue to where he was from. He walked over to one of the monitors and started typing.

“Okay, we’ll wait another minute and then head out,” Poe said he hadn't noticed Finn wasn’t still next to him. “Finn? What are you doing?”

“There could be files on this system about who I am,” he said

“Finn, it's not safe for us to linger here”

“This'll only take a minute,” he said accessing the trooper records and started searching for his code. “Here it is. FN-2187, age three. Taken from Socorro as mother tried to flee with him. Father – Unknown. Mother – Terminated.”

“Finn...” Poe sighed sadly.

“Don't. I know now.” Finn said, his voice colder than he wanted it to be. “Let's go”

They opened the door checking the hallway before they left. And then started heading down the maze of hallways desperately looking for Rey.

“Let's head this way,” Finn said turning to the left.

“Over here!” A trooper said appearing out of nowhere.

Finn shot at her and ran backwards, shooting the blaster door shut as more troopers came.

“Wrong way!” he screamed.

“There's not really a right way, is there?” Poe said heading the other way.

“I found them!” Another trooper said just before Poe shot him.

“Blast them!” A trooper said as Finn caught up with Poe and Chewie and fired at her, sending her to the ground.

They ran forward, Poe sliding one of the trooper's blasters to Chewie. He picked up the weapon firing at some troopers behind them.

They continued through the corridors blasting any troopers in their way. More troopers found them as they turned a corner, Finn had no idea where they were headed as they kept running.

“Blast them!” they heard behind then. Chewie and Finn fired at the trooper while Poe ran ahead.

“Halt!” Came a voice from around the corner.

Finn noticed Poe fall, he'd been hit.

“Poe!” he screeched running to him, trying to get him to his feet. “Are you okay?”

“Nope,” Poe said as several troopers surrounded them.

“You there, hands up!”

“Put your weapons down!”

“Drop them now”

Finn and Chewie both dropped their weapons, knowing they could no longer fight.

“Hey, fellas,” Poe said nonchalantly laying on the ground.

“Shut up, scum.”

They had been captured.

***

Rose landed the shuttle on the planet of Chandrila, she realised as they landed. Leia had gotten her to land by a lonely-looking manor on a hill.

Rose gave Leia a hand as the older woman struggled up the steep steps to the manor.

“This is where my son was born,” she told Rose looking up at the stone brick building “Where he grew up, I wish I had spent more time here with him, but it's too late now”

“Why are you telling me this Leia? Why are we here?” Rose asked

“Rose, I know what Rey has told you. Well, it seems you actually know more than me. About what really happened between them.”

“Rey's torn by her feelings,” Rose said

“So is Ben and soon they will meet again, I needed to be prepared for the outcome of whatever happens”

“That still doesn't explain why we're here,” Rose said as they made it to the manor.

Rose followed Leia through the manor passing a few old cold rooms and then heading up the stairs. They entered the room by the stairs, a child's bed and a desk piled with paper, quills and ink.

“This was his room, wasn't it,” Rose asked

“Yes,” Leia said sitting herself down on the bed and then putting her hand under the pillow. She pulled out a medal from underneath it. “Han gave this Ben, he told him no matter how far away he was he would always be with him. That this medal connected them.”

“Leia, I don't understand, what's going on?” Rose said kneeling down in front of her.

“This is the connection between my boys, Ben blamed Han for sending him to Luke, so he left it behind. But the memories held inside will be able to give enough strength to contact Ben”

“Why are you doing this now?” Rose asked

“Ben and Rey are both stronger, but if either of them loses control it could be disastrous”

“Okay... So what are you going to do?” Rose said confused

“For that, we will have to wait and see”

Rose paced around the room, waiting for what seemed like forever, Leia stayed sat where she was, her eyes closed.

R2 had made his way up to the room and beeped sadly at Leia.

“I know R2 I know”

***

Rey crept into the white room, it was Ben's quarter. It was not what she was expecting. She walked further into the room, noticing a podium with the charred helmet of Vader on it. It unnerved her. As she stared at the helmet she felt an energy pulse behind her.

She turned around finding Chewie crossbow and belt, and then the dagger. She picked up the dagger and was about to gather the other items when a scream came from it again.

_NO!_

“No” she whispered

“Rey...”

She turned quickly ignited the lightsaber, he was there in the doorway. Ben was standing in front of her, his hair was still messed from the encounter on Pasaana, dirt and soot still smudged on his face.

“You've been hard to find,” he said stepping into the room.

It was at that moment she realised he was not a vision, he was really there in the room.

“You're hard to get rid of,” she said as he came closer to her. “Just stay back!”

He paused not moving a step closer.

“I just want to talk,” he said “I know you saw something in the desert as well, I need to tell you what I saw. Your story was not as clear as I first thought. Rey.”

“Stop!” she said raising the saber

“You need to know the truth. Your parents were no one. They chose to be. To keep you safe.”

“Don't” she said tears in her eyes.

“You remember more than you say. I've been in your head”

“I don't want this!” she said not wanting to believe him.

“Search your memories”

“No!” she screamed, then she propelled herself forward, slashing at him with the saber.

On her second swing, he grabbed his saber and blocked her strike.

“Remember them. See them,” he said

An image blurred her vision then. She was in a tent on Jakku, a blonde woman hugging her.

_'My love. Rey, be brave.'_

A man entered the tent then.

_'You'll be safe here, I promise'_

A ship flew away as she cried helplessly.

She saw the lightsaber between her and Ben again then.

Her parents, a memory she never knew she had.

She broke away from him then and they circled each other.

“They sold you to protect you,” he told her

“Stop talking!”

“Rey, I know what happened to them,” he said as she slashed at him again.

She grunted, swinging at him again and again.

“You don't know the whole story. It was Snoke who took your parents. He was looking for you. But they wouldn't say where you were. So he gave the order. That dagger will show you”

She held up the dagger and let vision that it wanted to show her in.

_'You'll never find her, she's gone'_

The blonde woman said, to the alien, Ochi. Then he stabbed the man, Rey's father.

_'No!'_

Ochi moved forward grabbing Rey's mother and stabbing her as well.

“No!” Rey screamed coming out of the vision. She swung at Ben again letting her anger get the best of her.

She slashed at him, but he simply blocked every blow, she spun around knocking his saber out of the way as she sliced into the podium holding Vader's helmet, smashing the podium and splitting the helmet in half.

“Didn't you ever wonder why you wanted to stay on Jakku?”

“I didn't! My parents told me they would come back for me” she said taking another swing.

“They meant to, but in the event, they didn't come back. They needed a backup plan. They tied your powers to the planet. They knew only a planet could ever hide your powers from Snoke.”

“How is that even possible?” She asked pausing in her attack, panting.

“Rey, your parents could wield the Force, they weren't Jedi and weren't very powerful even. But as soon as they found out Snoke wanted you, they used their powers to hide you. When that hunter found them, they were trying to find Luke for his help to kill Snoke”

“You're lying,” she cried.

“I never lied to you. That's the reason why you found that ship on Pasaana, I thought they had been buried in Jakku’s desert but I had the wrong desert.”

She struck at him again and he held his saber up, pushing her back.

“You know why Snoke's always wanted you.”

“Why? Why did he come for me?” She asked, terrified of the answer.

“Because he saw what we would become. We're a dyad in the Force, Rey. Two that are one.”

She lowered her saber stepping back for him, he didn't try to approach her though.

“Snoke knew what we were and wanted us to join him, to control our power. We're meant to be together, Rey”

She hates how his words sounded so right, her heart pounded feeling like it might burst out of her chest.

“That dagger had the direction to the Wayfinder on it, join me,” he said holding his gloved hand out to her. “We'll find Exegol and destroy it and rule over the galaxy together. You know what you need to do. You know. Join me.”

She took a step forward and then screamed.

“No!” She swung at him, more fiercely than before.

They fought slash after slash, swing after swing.

She blocked his strike with the Force at one point only for him to do the same. The battle became more unhinged the longer they continued. Rey was tiring herself out, that seemed to be Ben's plan. He only swung when she did, constantly blocking her.

The fight seemed to last forever and she could tell Ben was getting frustrated, his blocks were getting more powerful, finally slamming her to the ground. He raised his saber again and she did the same.

Suddenly he stopped, he dropped his saber, Rey grabbed it without thinking, igniting it straight into Ben's stomach.

Her heart seemed to stop and she heard a whisper.

Ben

“Leia...” She said a cold shiver going through her as Leia's spirit left the galaxy. And Rey took in what she had done.


	33. The Traitor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost at the end guys. Can't wait for you guys to read it all. Also I left a sort of easter egg in this chapter let me know if any of you catch it.

Chapter 33 – The Traitor

Rey extinguished Ben's lightsaber and he slumped to the floor. Rey looked on in horror as the coldness spread through her, not just from Leia's death but from Ben dying beside her. It was not what she wanted but as she had always feared, she'd lost control and Ben had paid the price.

She couldn't let him die though. She knelt down next to him and cautiously placed a hand on his wound. He didn't try to stop her, all the fight inside of him had seemingly gone. Tears poured from her eyes as she closed them trying to focus on the light inside of her.

She remembered the vision of Ben she'd had so long ago. She used the image to give her strength as she passed her life energy to him. How easy it could have been for him to come back, even if he didn't realise it?

She heard him take a deep breath, filling his lungs with some much-needed air. She opened her eyes, his wound was healed and she pulled her hand away. She felt weak as a numbness crept up her arm. Ben had turned to look at her with complete and utter shock on his face.

She'd been trying to hold back her feelings for so long but for some reason, she felt like it might be the last time she would ever see him. So she let her guard down and everything came spilling out.

“I did want to take your hand,” she said weakly “Ben's hand”

He didn't say anything, he just took deep shaky breaths.

Rey got to her feet and went to get Chewie's things. She pulled the belt over her head and slung his crossbow over her shoulder. She was moving back to the doorway when Ben spoke softly.

“73956”

“What?” she said looking at him still sat on the floor.

“It's the code to get into Hangar 3, the Falcon's inside. You'd better get going, the knights will soon know you're here if they don't know already.”

Rey took a step closer to him, she was suspicious.

“Why are you helping me?” she asked.

“I have been this whole time,” he said.

“You what?”

“I'm the spy,” he whispered. “I needed your help to find out what they were up to. So I sent that message hoping you would finally come out of hiding”

She was surprised by his confession, he was the last person she thought would be the spy. She took one final look at his tired face.

“Thank you,” She said and with that, she fled the room going to look for the others.

***

Poe, Finn and Chewie had been cuffed and were marched down the corridors until they were in front of General Hux, who was looking as smarmy as ever.

“General, the scavenger is not with them,” the trooper holding Poe said.

“No matter, the knights will be back aboard soon. They will track her down in no time” Hux said before turning to look at Poe with disdain.

“Hugs,” Poe said smiling.

“Take them away. Terminate them.” Hux said his cool demeanour disappearing.

Poe looked to Finn then, trying to keep the worry off his face.

The troopers pushed them forward, taking them to, he did not know where. Every corner they passed he prayed that Rey would appear to save them. But a sense of dread enveloped him as they were placed in an empty room.

The troopers faced them to the wall and prepared their weapons.

“What were you gonna tell me before?” Poe asked still wanting to know what Finn was going to tell him.

“You still on that?” Finn said nervously.

“Oh, I'm sorry is this a bad time?” Poe said knowing they could be moments away from death.

Chewie groaned obviously tired from their constant drama. They heard the troopers raise their weapons then.

“Yeah, sort of is a bad time, Poe.”

“Well, because later doesn't really look like an option. If you're gonna let something off your chest, maybe now's not the worst time to...” Poe said as they heard blaster fire.

They ducked their heads, but nothing happened only a crash from behind them. They turned around to see the troopers on the floor and Rey standing in the doorway. Chewie's bowcaster in her hands.

“Time to go,” she said waving her hand to release their restraints and then handing Chewie his things back.

“I knew she'd save us,” Poe cheered.

“No you did not,” Finn said.

“How about the dagger Rey, did you find it?” Poe asked.

She tapped her side, her dagger securely on her belt.

“The droids are still in the hangar, I need to go get them.” Rey said “Head to Hangar 3, use code 73956 to get inside, you'll find the Falcon in there. Get it ready to go, so we can get going the moment I get back with the droids.”

She sprinted away from them then, Finn calling after her.

“Rey! Stop running off...” Finn sighed

“No time for that” Poe said “We need to get to the Falcon”

They ran from the room, heading for the hangar. Poe could never understand where Rey got her information from but he had learnt not to question it and just be grateful.

***

Rey ran back through the hallways her blaster at the ready. When she arrived at the hangar, C3-PO and the other droids were surrounded by troopers. 3-PO was speaking gibberish to the trooper in front of him.

Rey fired at the troopers and one by one they went down.

“Oh, dear! My first laser battle” 3-PO said

“We need to get back to the others,” she said just as a ship was landing in the hangar. The knight's ship she knew. “Find the others, tell them I stayed behind so they could get away”

3-PO shuffled away, the others rolling along behind him.

She walked forward edging her way closer and closer to the airlock. Watching the knights filing off their ship.

They made a semi-circle around her as dozens of troopers came flooding into the hangar, she was trapped.

“It's not too late to join us, Rey. We'll forgive your past offences against us” one of the knights said, “And I'm sure our master would welcome you with open arms.”

“I will never, ever fall to the dark side,” she said defiantly.

“I wouldn't be too sure of that, my dear” another one of them chuckled

She backed up all the way up to the edge of the airlock, she looked down seeing the city of Kijimi miles below her. Too far for her to jump.

“Just come quietly Rey and we won't hurt you,” the first one masked man said.

She didn't believe that for a second but she was at a loss for what to do. That was until she heard familiar engine sounds behind her.

“You wanna bet”

And then she turned, the Falcon rising up in front of her. The ship turned as the troopers fired at it and then they gunned the thrusters sending everyone but Rey back. The knights barely staying on their feet.

The ship's ramp came down as Finn called to her.

“Rey! Come on!”

She dashed forward, pushing off the hangar and using the Force to propel herself into space. Finn grabbed a hold of her pulling her inside. They ran inside the ship zooming away.

Rey checked her belt, the saber and dagger still secure on her side. They were back on track. They had Chewie back and the dagger. And soon they would have the Wayfinder.

***

Ben had stayed sat against the wall of his quarters for some time, the pain was gone and he could breathe properly again. But the shock was still there and his mother's voice reverberated in his ears.

It was the first time since his turn that he had heard her voice and it would be the last, she was gone, he had thought she was gone before but it was different, he had actually felt her pass.

Rey had gone as well, he'd let her go. He was sure she would get away, she was too clever for the knights to catch her.

He pulled his tunic off to see his wound. But there was only a small hole going through his sweater. Not even a scratch on him. He had thought it was the end, that Rey truly didn't care for him.

But then she had healed and told him that she would have taken Ben's hand. The man he had been trying to get rid for so many years. The man who nobody wanted and she would have taken his hand.

Too late, he thought. Too late for her to forgive yes, but maybe just maybe she could accept his help.

He got to his feet slowly, making his way to his bed-chamber. He went to his safe and pulled out the last thing that belonged to the man he was. His uncle Lando's blaster, he had gifted it to him for his tenth birthday. His mother had disapproved of course but this father had laughed himself silly.

He went to pick up his saber as well, he had a feeling he would need both weapons if the knights found out what he had done.

That's when he heard footsteps outside his quarters and Vicrul and Cardo came around the corner.

The knights took in the scene, Vader's broken helmet, Ben's discarded tunic and the blaster in his hand.

“You know when Hux told me, you sent the message to the Resistance, I thought never could our Master betray like that.” Vicrul said disappointment in his voice “But you let her go, you let your feelings control you. You're a failure just like Snoke feared you would be.”

Ben stayed silent and stony-faced. He no longer cared about what they thought of him. It was just a game of manipulation.

“You're coming with us, Ren. You'll be imprisoned for your crimes against the First Order.” Cardo said.

“Yeah, I don't think so,” he said shaking his head.

He raised his hand and sent Cardo flying backwards as usual. He ran forward ducking under Vicrul's weapon swinging at him and he ran from the room. He knew he needed a ship as Rey had destroyed his ship. He just needed to get to the nearest hangar.

He ran as fast as he could, shooting down troopers with his blaster as they tried to stop him. He made it to the hangar and saw a single Strike fighter left. He jumped inside and started up.

Troopers were firing at the ship trying to stop him from getting away and as a strike fighter was a two-man ship he really couldn't fire back. The ship rose and flew out of the hangar just as the knights arrived unable to stop him from leaving.

He took a moment to compose himself, thinking his plan through. He would go to Rey and beg for her forgiveness, he honestly didn't know what he would do if she rejected him again.

He input the coordinates from the dagger's inscription into the hyperspace and shot through lightspeed.

When he arrived on Kef Bir, he flew over the planet searching for the Falcon but it looked as if he had beat them there. He saw the raging ocean up ahead and the Death Star wreckage. He landed on top of it as the coordinates stated the Wayfinder was nearby.

He left the ship as the doubt about his plan set in. He could just leave, go into hiding like Luke. Rey wouldn't be safe though if the knights did manage to get a hold of her. He was scared to think about what they would do with her.

He stood on the edge on the wreckage watching the waves. All the hope from Rey's words were fading fast as he waited. Then a voice came from behind him.

“Hey Kid”

He turned around to see his father standing behind, just like before back on Starkiller base.

“I miss you, son”

“Your son is dead,” Ben said his breath shaking.

“No” Han whispered “Kylo Ren is dead. My son is alive”

“You're just a memory,” he said knowing how he wished their last meetings went.

“Your memory. Come home.”

“It's too late. She's gone,” he said, without his mother, Ben no longer had a home.

“Your mother's gone. But what she stood for, what she fought for, that's not gone.” Han sighed “Ben...”

“I know what I have to do, but I don't know if I have the strength to do it”

Han placed a hand on Ben's cheek and he suddenly felt the same wave of emotions from his father again.

Anger.

Fear.

Disappointment.

But there was a new clarity to them he'd been blinded to before.

Anger, for letting his son go.

Fear, of not being able to get him back.

Disappointment, in himself for not trying sooner.

His father never tried to trick, Snoke had twisted everything. Ben's blindness and Han's regret had destroyed them.

“You do,” Han said with such confidence.

Ben raised his lightsaber, remembering that awful moment.

“Dad...” he said unable to say the words.

“I know” he chuckled.

Ben turned around then and did what he had wanted to do since that moment over a year ago.

And he threw his saber into the air, sending it into the waves below.

He turned back around but his father was gone.

He had decided though if Rey wanted him he would be there for her.

Just then he saw the Falcon enter the atmosphere, it flew down unsteadily as Ben watched. He thought it best to make himself scarce for a bit, to see if Rey needed him. If she did he would go to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to anyone still reading this xx


	34. The Death Star

Chapter 34 – The Death Star

The Falcon was in urgent need of repair, as per usual. Poe had let Finn know that the landing gear was busted. So he and Rey set about trying to fix it before they reached their destination.

“All that matters is finding the Wayfinder. Finding Exegol” Rey said as they worked on the Falcon.

“That's what we're doing,” Finn agreed.

“He killed my mother,” Rey said to herself “And my father, Snoke's lucky he's already dead, I would have destroyed him if I'd known”

Finn looked at Rey worriedly, he'd never heard so much anger in her voice.

“Rey... that doesn't sound like you,” he said as she closed the panel she had been working on “Rey I know you-”

“People keep telling me they know me. I'm afraid no one does” she said walking back to the cockpit.

Their landing was a rough one. They didn't have all the parts they needed to fix the landing gear. So as they landed on Kef Bir the Falcon crashed onto the grass skidding along and racking up tons of mud.

The ship's alarms blared to life again.

“Another thing to fix” Poe grumbled as they left the ship, to scope out the area.

The coordinates on the dagger lead them to the coast. They looked out at the raging waves and in the distance the remains of the Death Star.

“What... What is that?” the little cone-shaped droid asked

“It's the Death Star. A bad place from an old war” Rey answered.

“It's gonna take us years to find what we're looking for” Poe complained

“Oh dear,” 3-PO said.

“Only this blade tells” Finn heard Rey say quietly. She took the dagger from her belt and started fiddling with it until a golden strip came out of one side of the hilt.

She held the dagger up as Finn came up behind her. She was able to perfectly align the dagger to what remained of the Death Star. And the gold strip pointed them to the exact place they needed to go to.

“The wayfinders there,” she said.

Just then they heard hoofs behind them.

“Heads up,” Poe said unholstering his weapon. Several people on steeds approached them and Poe raised his weapon.

“Rough landing,” the lead woman said.

“I've seen worse,” Poe said.

“I've seen better. Are you Resistance?” she asked.

“That depends,” he said cautiously.

“We picked up a transmission from someone named Babu Frik”

“Babu Frik? Oh, he's one of my oldest friends” 3-PO interjected.

“He said you'd come. He said you were the last hope.”

“We have to get to that wreck. There is something inside there we need” Rey asked.

“I can take you there by water”

“Have you seen the water?” Finn said

“Not now. Too dangerous. We can go at first light tomorrow”

“We can't wait that long. We don't have the time” Rey argued.

“Or the choice” Poe agreed “Let's get that ship fixed. Do you have any spare parts?”

“Some I'm Jannah”

“Poe,” he said introducing himself and then pointing to the others “That's Finn and Rey”

They made their way back to the ship, Chewie had stayed aboard to work on the electrical fault causing the alarm on the ship. Poe joined him while Finn went down into one of the shafts to sort out the landing gear.

After Jannah had returned with the parts he would need, she sat on the edge passing him what he would need.

“It's an O-6,” she said passing him the part. “But it should work”

“Thank you,” he said examining the part and recognising it. “This is a First Order part”

“There's an old cruiser on the west ridge. Stripped for parts. The one we were assigned to. The one we escaped in.”

“Okay, wait. You were First Order?” he asked

“Not by choice” She explained “ We were conscripted as kids. All of us. I was TZ-1719. Stormtrooper”

“FN-2187,” He told her

“You?” she said surprised.

“I never knew there were more,” he said the cogs in his mind turning.

“Deserters? All of us here were stormtroopers. We mutinied at the battle of Ansett island. They told us to fire on civilians. We wouldn't do it. We laid our weapons downs”

“All of you?” he asked

“The whole company,” she said chuckling at the memory “I don't even know how it happened. It wasn't a decision, really it was like-”

“An instinct” Finn finished “A feeling”

“A feeling” she sighed knowing he was right.

“The Force,” he said remembering the moment a year ago when his old team turned against Phasma. It wasn't just a random occurrence. It was something else “The Force brought me here. It brought me to Poe and Rey.”

“You say that like you're sure it's real”

“It's real. I wasn't sure before but I am now” he said an idea forming in his head.

“Hey guys!” Poe called then. “Has anyone seen Rey?”

“I thought she was checking the damage to the outside of the ship,” Finn said.

“BB-8 said she's gone.”

Finn grabbed his binoculars heading out of the ship, the others following behind him. He went back to the coast hoping his suspicions wouldn't be confirmed and that Rey wasn't doing something reckless.

But as he looked through his binoculars and searched the water. He saw her sailing over the waves.

He handed the binoculars to Poe as he paced away angrily.

“She took the skimmer?” Jannah said.

As soon as Poe had taken a look, he stormed away heading back to the Falcon.

“What the hell was she thinking?” he said.

“Poe, we gotta go after her,” Finn called after him.

“We'll get the Falcon fixed and get out there as fast as we can”

“No, we're gonna lose her,” He said worriedly.

“Look, she left us what do you wanna do? Swim?”

“She's not herself. You have no idea what she's fighting” Finn said.

“And you do?” Poe asked annoyed.

“Yeah, I do. And so does Leia”

“Well, I'm not Leia,” He said shoving Finn's binoculars back into his hands.

“That's for damn sure, I can't imagine how disappointed she'd be with you now,” Finn said coldly.

Poe looked at him hurt and he turned away from the Falcon, stomping away to the hills. Finn felt guilty about his words. Poe had spent his whole life looking up to Leia, wanting to make her proud.

He sighed and followed after him. Poe was sitting in the grass leaning against a boulder picking at the flowers in the ground.

He didn't look up when Finn sat down beside him.

“I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that Leia's always proud of you no matter what you do. I'm just worried about Rey. She's not in a good place.”

“I would have understood you know. If you'd said something after Crait. I wouldn't have gotten in between you.”

“What are we talking about?” Finn asked confused.

“I was mistaken thinking there was something between us”

“Poe, we're in the middle of a war. I don't think it's best to talk about this sort of thing.” Finn said awkwardly

“I know Finn. I know you're in love with Rey” Poe said miserably as Finn blinked at him. “It's okay you know. I just wished you'd been the one to tell me. But I'll step out of the way. When she gets back I won't get in your way”

“Poe, I'm not in love with Rey. Yes, there's a connection between us but it's not like that. I've been... It's always been you” Finn said shyly

“Wait, you-”

But he couldn't say anything further because Finn had grabbed him by the back of the head and kissed him on the lips heartily. Poe froze for a moment shocked but then melted into the kiss.

They broke apart smiling at each other, lacing their fingers together. Before Poe planted another kiss on Finn.

“We need to go get Rey,” Poe said coming back to reality. “Let's get back to the Falcon. And go get our girl, together.”

***

Rey had made it past the danger of the waves and was sailing through a gap in the wreck to find a place to dock. She steered the skimmer in calmer waters and stepped off of it and began climbing up the wreck.

She headed in the direction of where the dagger had pointed to. She was climbing around a pillar when a piece dislodged. She slipped hanging on by one hand but she was able to swing herself around and pull herself up. Thanks to her scavenger days on Jakku.

She jumped to another section and continued climbing up until she reached an intact hallway. She walked through the slanted hallway seeing discarded trooper helmets scattered around her.

She searched the hallways and she turned a corner spotting daylight above her. She pulled herself up to the light source. She knew she was in the Emperor's throne room as she walked over to the broken throne in the center.

She heard a creaking then and she turned to see a door opening behind her. The Emperor's vault. She stepped inside, ready for anything as the door closed behind her.

The room was lit with a green tinge and filled with mirrors. She heard a whispering and followed it. Near the end of the room, she saw what she had been looking for. The Wayfinder.

She looked at the podium it was suspended between, hoping it wasn't booby-trapped. She took it, but nothing happened.

She turned around ready to get back to the others. When staring back at her was a copy of herself. She stumbled back grabbing the lightsaber from her belt.

The Rey in front of her was very different, draped in a dark cloak and holding a double-ended red lightsaber.

It was an alternative version of herself. Who she would have been if she had accepted Ben's hand a year ago.

“Don't be afraid of who you are” the other Rey said.

The copy rushed at her, they duelled each other, both equalling matched. Rey grunted slashing at her copy. Their sabers linked and they came face to face. The other Rey snarled at her, showing her teeth were fangs.

Rey fell back landing outside of the vault and the Wayfinder slipped from her fingers. It tumbled across the room until someone stopped it.

She jumped up, igniting the saber once more. He had followed her again but she would not let him have the Wayfinder.

He lowered his eyes, not making eye contact with her. She looked at him more closely then. His clothes were different, a black sweater, no cape or gloves. His hair was incredibly messy and his cheeks were red. But the real difference was his scar, it was gone.

Had she done that when she had healed him? She couldn't believe what she was seeing, Kylo Ren was truly gone and her Ben had finally returned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know. I'm evil making you guys wait another week to find out what happens.
> 
> Thanks to anyone still reading this xx


	35. The Island

Chapter 35 – The Island

Ben hung his head in shame. The moment Rey had seen him she went on the offensive. He shouldn't have expected anything better after every time she'd tried to reach out to him, he'd failed her.

He'd just decided to hand her the Wayfinder, apologise and then leave. But amazingly she extinguished the lightsaber. He looked into her face then, she was giving him a faint smile and her eyes full of a hope he'd never seen before. It gave him the courage he needed to say what he actually wanted to say.

“When I offered you my hand last year, you were right to reject it,” he said gulping down his fear “I know I can never make amends for all the things I've done. But I would like to try. Give me the word and I will go. You'll never have to see me again. If however, it is possible for me to join you on your mission to destroy Exegol. I will do everything in my power to help you. And afterwards, you may do with me as you wish.”

Rey's smile had grown over the course of his speech as she gradually came closer and closer to him. When she was right in front of him, she placed her hands over the wayfinders in his own hand.

“You came back” she whispered happily. He nodded shakily bringing his other hand up to her face and she rested her cheek in his palm. She pulled herself closer to him so that their foreheads pressed against each other.

It was the happiest Ben could ever remember being, They were simply able to enjoy a moment where they were finally on the same side. That was when Ben noticed Rey was trembling.

“What's wrong?” he asked

“When I found the Wayfinder in the vault, I saw something,” She said trying to take a steadying breath. “I know Exegol is the priority but there's somewhere I need to go first for answers”

“Okay, Let's go,” he said as they linked hands.

They jumped back down the way he had come, running down the slanted corridors headed for his TIE. They climbed up onto the section Ben had landed on. Only then did they hear engines roaring above them.

They looked behind them to see a thin ship behind them. And the knights jumping out of it, landing on the wreck as the waves grew higher

“Thank you so much for leaving your tracker Ren, it was a great help in finding you,” Cardo said enjoying his own humor far too much.

“Ben!” Rey said frustrated as the knights advanced.

“Sorry! I had more pressing matters on my mind, like not getting shot down or the fact I had been stabbed thirty minutes prior.” Ben said embarrassed.

“Sorry!” Rey yelled as Ap'lek and Cardo attacked.

Rey blocked Cardo's blow with her saber while Ben ducked dodging Ap'lek's swing. Rey glanced over at him confused.

“Ben, where's your saber?” She asked as the knights took a swing at them. Rey blocked both their weapons pushing them back. Rey and Ben turned running further down the section as Trudgen and Ushar made their attempt next.

“Umm... It's in there somewhere” Ben said nervously pointing to the ocean below, then pulling his blaster off his belt.

“Are you kidding? Ben!” Rey said flabbergasted.

“I was trying to make a statement!” he called over the sound of the waves. He fired at the two knights, but they dodged them by inches.

Trudgen shot at them as well then but Rey managed to block them all. A wave crested between the two pairs and Rey and Ben were able to move further along before the knights caught up with them again.

Ushar slashed at Rey with his blade while Trudgen and Ben shot at each other relentlessly. Ushar kicked Rey off her feet and she fell to the ground. Before Ben could react Ushar swung down at Rey but she held her hand up blocking the blade with the Force before rolling over and getting back to her feet.

Ushar swung again and Rey blocked it but the look of horror on her face made even the knights look behind them. A giant wave was headed straight for them. Ben shot at Ushar, disorienting him for a moment. Giving Rey the chance to turn and run.

She jumped right over a gap to the next section as the wave hit. Ben managed to jump over the wave, landing gracefully next to Rey. That was when Vicrul and Kuruk landed in front of them. The others trapped as the wave hit them full force.

Two left, Ben thought.

“Always so dramatic Ren,” Vicrul said, ready to get it over and done with.

He swung at Ben, but Rey blocked him giving them both the chance to move around him as Ben gave them cover.

Rey pushed Vicrul's blade down to the ground slashing it away as another wave came for them. She did a backflip right over the wave landing on the other side.

The knights launched at Ben and he pushed himself through the water to avid them. Rey looked relieved as she saw him coming out of the wave. She'd lost him for a second.

They were almost at the TIE, when the knights came upon them again.

“Rey! Back on Pasaana when I touched your hand” Ben said and Rey got the hint. She took Ben's hand and then they each raised their other hand. They sent an almighty blast from their hands and sent the knights flying back.

They raced for the TIE jumping inside back to back and flying away as quick as they could.

***

Inside the TIE Rey was working away on the ship.

“Okay the tracker's disabled now and I've set the coordinates for our destination,” Rey said

“Okay, moving to lightspeed now,” Ben said as the blue light surrounded them.

They sat in silence for a bit. Neither knowing how to start.

“You saved me,” Ben blurted out, finally saying something.

“Well, I was the one who stabbed you,” Rey said awkwardly.

“Honestly at that moment I probably deserved it” He laughed. “Though I am curious. How did you heal me?”

“I've been doing a lot of studying in my time in hiding. I can't really explain it, but as soon as I learnt how to find the light inside of me I was able to direct it, transfer it.”

“I can't believe someone finally did it. Though I'm not surprised it was you. If anyone could learn how to heal through the Force it was going to be you” Ben said a hint of sadness in his voice.

“What's the matter?” she asked turning her head to the side but still unable to see him.

“What my Grandfather would have given for that power? He killed for it, joined the dark side all to try and save his wife”

“Your grandmother,” she said

“Padmé Amidala, she was Queen of Naboo. He betrayed the Jedi for love of her.”

Another awkward silence fell.

“He'd be proud of you, Ben. Han and Leia too. You came back”

They came out of hyperspace then and Ahch-To loomed below them.

“Is this?” Ben asked.

“Yeah, I didn't think you'd want to come after everything. You can wait in here if you want?”

“No, I'll come with you,” He said stubbornly “It's time”

They landed where Rey had a year ago and hiked up the steps to the little village. And in the center stood by the old fire pit was Luke's spirit glowing a bright blue.

“Rey, Ben...” Luke said smiling.

“Master Skywalker,” Rey said leading Ben closer. His hand shaking in hers.

“Luke,” Ben said fearfully.

“It's good to see you both” Luke said “How far you have come since I saw you last”

“I'm sorry,” Ben said verging on tears “I betrayed you all, I let the darkness consume me, I was weak.”

“No Ben, you were never weak,” Luke said fiercely. “I failed to see the truth so many times when you were a child. Snoke's manipulation at that age would have been impossible to escape. But Ben in the end after so many years, you broke free of it. You're strong, not weak.”

“Thank you, Uncle Luke”

“Now for the matter at hand. You came here for more than just an apology, why are you here Rey?” Luke asked.

“A vision of myself. A darkness inside of me has been growing. I'm afraid that now Ben has come back to the light. That I'm destined to join the dark side and sit on the throne of the Sith” Rey said trying not to look at the concerned look on Ben's face.

“You're afraid that you'll always be on the opposing side. But the Force had been trying to put you both on the same side since you met. And why wouldn't it when you're a Dyad” He said shocking both Rey and Ben.

“You knew!” they both said in unison.

“Well, not at first, but not long after” he clarified “Leia knew as well”

“Why did you never tell us?” Ben asked.

“None of us wanted to force you into it. It was better for both of you to come to the decision on your own. Imagine what could have happened if we had told you?”

“She'd probably of tried to stab me earlier” Ben said as Rey elbowed him. “Ow”

“Excuse me,” Luke said missing the details.

“Never mind!” Rey said louder than she wanted to. “You believe we can do it then, destroy the Sith”

“This bond between you is stronger than either of you know. Confronting fear is the destiny of a Jedi. Your destiny. If you don't face this it will be the end of the Jedi. And the war will be lost”

“I still don't know how we're gonna pull off with only one saber between us,” Rey said annoyed.

“Where's Ben's?” Luke asked.

“In the ocean on Kef Bir”

“A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect,” Luke said walking to his hut. “Come with me, I think there's something my sister would want you to have.”

They entered the hut and Luke pointed then to a loose brick in the wall. Ben pulled it out and took the cloth bundle out. He unwrapped it, finding a lightsaber inside, his mother's saber.

“Leia's saber,” Rey said softly.

“I didn't even know she had one,” Ben said

“You wouldn't,” Luke said “She gave it to me the day she found out she was pregnant with you, she sensed that somehow, someday. You would need it and that I was to keep it safe”

Ben was lost for words.

“Thank... you...” he stuttered.

“You have everything you need. A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight. May the Force be with you both.” Luke said bowing his head and then fading back into the Force.


	36. Who's Ever Ready?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone for all the lovely comments and kudos. 
> 
> I never in my wildest dreams imagine I'd get to 3k in hits, so from the bottom of my heart I thank you all.

Chapter 36 – Who's Ever Ready?

Patience was never one of Rose's strong suits but as Leia had sat meditating she wished she'd stayed with her.

She'd gotten bored pacing around the room and decided to explore the house, wandering through the corridors seeing old faded pictures of Ben growing up, Leia and Han occasionally in them.

She found a room downstairs with a work table inside. Parts scattered all around, probably discarded projects Han had been working on. She was exploring another room filled with old papers of Leia's thinking that she might try and find a drink. When she could R2 beeping from upstairs.

She went back to Ben's room and saw that Leia was lying down on the bed seemingly asleep. R2 was beeping incoherently as Rose knelt down beside Leia. Her hand was splayed out and she was unmoving.

“Leia?” Rose said but the older woman didn't stir. Something wasn't right she knew then. She held Leia's wrist checking for a pulse but she couldn't find one. Leia was gone.

“R2, did she speak to him?” Rose asked tearfully, R2 beeped sadly confirming her suspicions.

Leia had sacrificed her life to speak to her son one last time, to stop him from doing something foolish.

She understood why Leia had been so secretive if Rose had known the truth, she would have tried to persuade her against doing something so drastic. She sat there crying for a moment wondering how she could explain it to the others.

She stood up then, wiping away her tears, knowing she needed to get back. She was hoping that the others would be back, she could really do with speaking with Rey.

She walked out of the house back down the hill to the ship. It only occurred to her then that Leia had made them travel in a medical shuttle. She grabbed a gurney from inside and pushed it back up to the house.

Once she and R2 had managed to get Leia on the gurney, Rose grabbed a blanket from Ben's bed draping it over Leia. She tried to be as respectfully as she could as she took Leia from the house.

Back onboard the ship, she set a course back to Ajan Kloss. As soon as she was in hyperspace though she broke down again. All the feeling from losing her sister came rushing back and so did the tears.

R2 came beeping over, trying to comfort her.

“Thanks, R2,” she said sobering up.

Landing back at the base she noticed that the Falcon had just gotten back as well. Leaving the ship, she had to push through a crowd forming around her desperately trying to find Poe and the others. She had to tell them what had happened.

She found Poe, Finn and Chewie heading away from the Falcon, Kaydel and D'acy were still following her as she reached the others.

“Poe, we need to talk,” Rose said but Poe slid past her walking away. “Finn! This can't wait”

“Sorry Rose, we've gotta speak to the General,” Poe said obviously not in a good mood.

“You can't” Rose cried bracing herself. “She's... She's gone”

They all turned to look at her then, not wanting to believe her.

Chewie roared in agony then, thrashing about until he fell to the ground. Poe and Finn went to comfort him but he pushed them away weeping profusely.

Rose knelt down in front of him. She knew what he was feeling, he'd lost his old friends. First Han, Luke and then Leia, they were all gone and it had crushed him.

Rose crawled forward as Chewie's anger dissipated and he sagged onto her shoulder, literally crushing her. But she held him up as best as she could, wrapping him in a tight hug.

“Leia said Rey was in trouble, she saved her and... I don't know how but she did” Rose explained looking around then, realising Rey was nowhere in sight. “Where is Rey?”

“Rey went ahead of us to find the Wayfinder, then the knights of Ren appeared and it looks like she was able to escape, but we got separated,” Finn said worriedly.

Kaydel and D'acy were hanging off to the side waiting to speak to them. D'acy spoke up when Rose noted her presence.

“There's something else we need to tell you”

“What else?” Poe asked.

***

Rey and Ben were making their way back down the steps to the ship. When Ben paused, Rey turned realising he was no longer following her. He was staring at his mother's saber in his hand.

“What's wrong?” she asked.

“I never knew how much she gave up for me. I never got to thank her or tell her I'm sorry.” He said holding up the saber then. “This was her dream, not mine. I would have been happy travelling around the galaxy with my dad. But fate decided that we were both destined for this.”

Rey walked back up the steps up to him.

“She never regretted it. She never stopped loving you. She told me as much.” Rey assured him.

“I'm glad this is my fate, knowing you has been the best part of my life. I just wished I hadn't taken the path I did to get here. I hurt so many people.”

“None of them blame you for what happened. Snoke is the one to blame, he orchestrated all of this. And we need to stop the knights from achieving his ultimate goal”

“Do you believe we'll ever see her again?”

“Most definitely, they'll all be there for us when we really need them.” Rey smiled her hand grazing over the place his scar had been.

Ben smiled back at her and then she noticed his mind whirling.

“Speaking of the knights, I know their fighting style. I think it might be a good idea to do a bit of training before we leave the island. And it will give me a chance to practice with the new saber”

Rey agreed and they headed down to a flat patch of ground by where their ship was.

The sun was setting on the island as they trained.

“Again!” Ben called

Rey sprinted forward jumping clean over Ben and his raised saber. Ben had explained the knights most common moves to her and their tactic of crowding an opponent.

From what Ben had told her she thought her best chances were against Trudgen, she was too small and fast for his large frame. Also Cardo, he was often too eager to and made it easy to predict his moves. And then Ap'lek, he had far too much confidence in abilities without the skill to back it up.

Ben meanwhile would try to divide the group taking of Vicrul the most skilled of the group and Ben’s old right-hand man. Kuruk, who was always smart enough to assess the situation before striking and then Ushar, he often waited until his opponents were tired before he struck.

“Good” Ben said as Rey landed smoothly behind him “Not that you weren't already an expert, my TIE can bear witness to that. But you've got more distance in your landing now, that should give you an edge against them.”

“Yeah, do you want to try a bit of swordplay? Try out that saber” she asked.

“Sure,” He said twirling the saber in his hand and then jumping forward and striking. Giving Rey only a moment to block. “Nice that we can do this without you trying to kill me for once”

He smirked at her and she rolled her eyes. Then she twisted out of his strike, circling around him.

“Yeah, it is. Promise I won't hurt you this time”

“Thank you, that's very kind of you,” he said chuckling

They continued to pair, both evenly matched until they were out of breath.

“I think that's enough for now, don't want to tire ourselves out before we start the real fight” Rey suggested.

“Yeah, good idea. We should get going. I don't know how long it with take us to get there”

They jumped into the ship, taking off after Ben had set up the Wayfinder to guide them through the unknown regions.

While in hyperspace, Rey was trying to communicate with the Resistance but she was having trouble, all the airways were seemingly blocked.

“Damn” she complained.

“What's wrong?” Ben asked.

“If the Sith really have a fleet waiting in Exegol, then we aren't going to defeat them by ourselves. I'm trying to send our location to them, so they can follow our route. But I can't get through.”

“The Order's probably blocking communications to stop us doing so.” Ben guessed

“Is there a way to get through to them?”

“I still have an old link. I just don't know if he will take my call or not?” Ben said conflicted

“Who?”

***

Poe was horrified when D'acy told them about Kijimi, he was already mourning the loss of Leia but Babu and Zorii was just the icing on top of the cake.

“How?” he asked.

“A blast from a star destroyer. A ship from the new Sith fleet. Out of the Unknowns” D'acy explained.

“They've sent a ship from Exegol. Does that mean every ship in the fleet-” Kaydel asked Poe finishing her sentence.

“Has planet-killing weapons. Of course, they do. All of them. This is how they finish it.”

“Listen,” Rose said as a message came through to them. “It's on every frequency.”

“The Resistance is dead.” Kaydel translated “The Sith flame will burn. All worlds, surrender or die. The Final Order begins.”

“Leia made you acting general” D'acy told him. “What now?”

Poe turned away from all of them. Unable to comprehend any of it, he headed to Leia's quarter, they had placed her there giving everyone a chance to mourn.

Everyone vacated the area when Poe arrived. Maz was last to leave saying,

“Goodbye Princess”

And then patting Poe on the arm and walking away.

Poe pulled up a stool and sat at Leia's side. He knew she would never be able to give him advice again but it was still good to talk to her.

“I gotta tell you, I don't really know... How to do this. What you did... I'm not ready.”

“Neither were we,” a familiar voice said from the shadows. Poe stood up surprised as Lando walked over to him. “Luke, Han, Leia, me... Who's ever ready?”

“How'd you do it? Defeat an empire with almost nothing.”

“We had each other. That's how we won.” Lando said and Poe knew what he had to do. Alone he couldn't defeat the First Order, he needed his friends, his team but mostly Finn.

He ran around the base trying to gather everyone for a meeting, looking for Finn and also BB-8 who had gone missing.

“Has anyone seen my droid?” he shouted “Anyone?”

Finn came running up to him then, the little cone droid following after him.

“I need to talk to you about this droid,” Finn said

“This isn't the droid I'm looking for,” He said still looking around for BB-8. “But I do need to talk to you about something. I can't do this alone. I need you in command with me”

“This droid has... Thank you, I appreciate that.” Finn said smiling.

“General” Poe confirmed him as.

“General” Finn replied, “This droid has a ton of information about Exegol,” Finn explained.

“Wait, what? Cone-face?” Poe asked.

“I am D-O,” the droid said.

“Sorry, D-O” Poe apologised.

“He was going to Exegol with Ochi of Bestoon,” Finn said.

“Why was Ochi going there?” Poe asked.

“To bring the little girl. That Snoke wanted alive” Finn said as he and Poe shared a knowing look.

They went to a terminal plugging the droid in. It came up with readings from the unknown regions.

“All the information you need for an airstrike on Exegol,” Finn said as Rose came up behind them.

“Yeah, except how to get there. Are you seeing these atmo readings?”

“It's a mess out there. Magnetic crossfields.” Finn said as Rose spoke up.

“Gravity wells, solar winds.”

“How does a fleet even take off from there?” Finn asked.

“Terribly sorry to interrupt,” C3-PO said, “R2 said I should come talk to you”

“R2, I thought you were restoring his memory,” Finn said confused.

R2 beeped annoyed.

“Yeah 3-PO said your memory banks are unreliable, but how much did you lose?”

“I'm sorry but it's rather important that we tell you that Master Ben is in trouble,” 3-PO said impatiently.

“Master Ben?” Poe asked

“Yes, R2 is receiving a transmission from Master Ben” 3-PO explained.

Rose immediately knew what was going on apparently though as she grabbed another connection wire plugging it in R2 and a craft popped up on the screen.

“It's a First Order craft ID like the one Rey escaped in,” Finn said surprised “You don't think?”

“That Ben Solo was the spy in the First Order. Yes, yes I do.” Rose said.

“It's transmitting course marker signals on its way to the unknown regions,” 3-PO said

“It's Rey, she's going to Exegol. With Ren, let's hope by choice.” Finn said worriedly.

“They're showing us the way,” Rose said bluntly.

“Then we go together,” Poe said finally. “Still looking for my droid by the way guys”

***

It turned out that BB-8 had been comforting Chewie and managed to encourage him to come back to base.

They arrived as everyone gathered around Poe, Finn and Lando.

“As long as those Star Destroyers are on Exegol we can hit them,” Finn said

“Hit them how?” Beaumont asked.

“They can't activate their shields until they leave the atmosphere,” Rose explained.

“Which isn't easy on Exegol,” Poe said “Ships that size need help taking off. Nav can't tell which way's up out there.”

“So, how do the ships take off?” Jess asked

“They use a signal from a navigation tower, like this one,” Poe said showing them all a hologram.

“Except they won't. Air team's gonna find the tower, ground team's gonna blast it.” Finn explained.

“Ground team?” Kaydel asked.

“I have an idea for that,” Finn said knowing none of them would like it, so he kept his plans secret.

“Once the tower's down, the fleet will be stuck in atmo for just minutes, with no shields and no way out,” Poe said

“We think hitting the cannons might ignite the main reactors,” Rose said.

“That's our chance,” Lando said encouragingly

“We need to pull some Holdo manoeuvres. Do some real damage” Beaumont suggested.

“Come on. That move is one in a million.” Finn said not wanting to risk any more lives than necessary. “Fighters and freighters can take out their cannons if there are enough of us”

“There's not enough of us,” Snap said

“He's right. We'd be no more than bugs to them.” Kaydel agreed.

“That's where Lando, Chewie and Maz come in.” Finn said “They'll take the Falcon to the Core Systems. Send out a call for help for anybody listening.”

“We've got friends out there. They'll come if they know there's hope.” Poe said as everyone murmured unsure “They will. The First Order wins by making us think we're alone. We're not alone. Good people will fight if we lead them.”

“Leia never gave up. And neither will we. We're gonna show them we're not afraid.” Finn said joining hands with Poe.

“What our mothers and fathers fought for, we will not let die. Not today. Today, we make our last stand. For the galaxy. For Leia. For everyone we've lost.”

“They've taken enough of us. Now we take the war to them.” Finn said thinking of the mother he never knew in that moment as Poe squeezed his hand reassuringly.

And with that everyone began to prepare, Poe and Rose leading the flight teams. While Finn prepared to take Kaydel, Beaumont and some others to go get their ground team.

Finn was last to board and Lando was waiting outside of the ship.

“I just wanted to wish you luck, my boy. There's much we need to talk about when we get back” He said clapping Finn on the shoulder.

Finn's mind had been whirring since he had found out about his mother. And how eerily similar it sounded to Lando's story of his wife and son.

“Your wife, I don't think she just up and left you,” Finn said unable to hold back his thoughts.

“No, I haven't thought that was true since I met you back on Canto Bight. But that thought will have to wait, we have a war end.” He said pushing Finn up the ramp on the ship and walking away to the Falcon.


	37. Welcome to Exegol

Chapter 37 – Welcome To Exegol

Nobody was going to be happy with Finn's plan, even he wasn't certain it was gonna work. But he went ahead with it, all the same, hoping his faith would be rewarded.

He was able to put the Resistance distress beacon on without the others noticing. It was noticeable enough for the First Order to see but not enough to look too suspicious.

When they landed on Kef Bir, Jannah and her group came riding out to meet them.

“Finn, why are you back?” Jannah asked as she climbed off her Orbak.

“We're about to take on the First Order and we could really use your help” Finn explained.

“Of course, how can we help?”

“I'm running the ground team and we could do with some fast transport” Finn smiled looking over at the Orbaks.

Soon Jannah's group were leading the beasts onto the Resistance shuttle. But as Finn counted them he noticed something odd.

“Hang on, we've got one too many,” Finn asked confused.

“Oh well, I thought you might like to join us,” Jannah said.

“I can't ride,” Finn said his eyes going wide.

“That's not a problem,” she said grabbing the reins to one of the Orbaks “I can teach you”

She was soon helping him up and onto the creature. His nerves were shot as the Orbak swayed back and forth with Finn on its back. Though as Jannah showed him how to grip the reins properly and got him trotting around, his confidence grew immensely.

But the lesson had to come to an end faster than he would have liked as two shuttles appeared in the sky above them.

“How did they find us?” Kaydel asked as the First Order shuttles came into land.

Everyone gathered behind Finn, weapons drawn but he held up his hand to stop them.

“Don't! I lead them here”

“Finn!” Kaydel yelled.

“What were you thinking?” Jannah asked.

“They're trapped just as much as we were Jannah. I want to give them a chance.”

Jannah looked unconvinced as the rest of them but she at least seemed curious to see what he would do.

The troopers filed out their shuttle blaster's raised as Finn walked forward, his hands up.

“Stay where you are, rebel scum,” The lead stormtrooper said his red epaulette showing his rank.

“We don't want to fight you, we want you to join us,” Finn said calmly.

The troopers looked around at each other confused.

“What kind of a trick is this now?” he asked his blaster shaking in his hand.

“No trick. I was once like all of you. Programmed to believe I was on the right side, believing all of the lies and propaganda. You have a choice right now, you can choose to see the First Order is tyrannical and the galaxy would be a far better place without them”

Jannah came up beside him then and took his hand before she spoke up.

“All of us here were like you once,” she said gesturing to her team. “Enslaved by the First Order but now you have a chance at freedom. Fight with us and you'll never have to live in fear again”

“Be quiet, you're filthy traitors all of you. We will all live and die for the glory of our Supreme Leader-”

The trooper didn't get to finish his spiel as he fell forward, one of his men had shot him in the back.

The trooper in question took his helmet and chucked it aside and all of the other troopers followed suit.

“I could never see properly out of the damn thing,” he said looking down at his commander “He would never have listened to you 2187, he was a volunteer but we will mate.”

“926! Is that really you?” Finn asked surprised to see one of his batch.

“Sure is 2187”

“It's Finn now actually” he corrected. “We're headed to the unknown regions, there's a fleet out there threatening to destroy the whole galaxy, will you help us?”

“When do we leave?” 926 asked.

“Now”

***

“Gosh it's a mess out,” Ben said as he flew through the blood-red space, snaking around black veins within the crossfields

“No kidding, I just hope the others make it through ok,” Rey said worriedly

“If I know anything about your friends, they’ll make it through just fine,” He said confidently.

“I hope you're right,” she said and then they travelled in silence for a time until Ben broke it.

“You're still worried about the vision, aren't you?” he asked and her silence was a clear answer. “Rey, you brought me back. After everything we've been through, your faith in the light held. And it will continue to do so.”

“But I keep having these outbursts, I've hurt you so many times already. What if I lose control again?”

“Being completely honest I deserved everything you threw at me and more. And now well you have someone who knows what it feels like. Someone to lean on if things get too much.” he said reassuringly

“You don't know how much that means to me, Ben. You didn't have to do any of this, but I'm so glad you’re here with me.”

She heard him shifting around behind her then as he held his hand out for her to hold. She took it and she closed her eyes for a moment enjoying the way his thumbs rubbed over her knuckles.

“I'll be there anytime you need me, Rey. I always will be because I... I...” He struggled as they came out the crossfields and saw Exegol in front of them.

Rey gasped as they entered the atmosphere.

“Look at that fleet,” she said as they saw hundreds of destroyers. Ben spotted the Sith temple in the distance and flew down. “They're not stopping us”

She was right Ben saw, the destroyers let them pass without a problem. They were expecting them.

They landed outside of the temple hopping out of their ship and assessing their surroundings.

“Think it's a trap?” she asked

“Almost definitely” he answered

“Wanna spring it?”

“With you? of course” he smiled.

And they walked forward heading into the temple hand in hand.

***

Even with Rey's map, navigating the unknown regions was not easy for Poe and the others.

“I know it's a rough ride but stay locked on Rey's course,” he advised his teams.

“Copy that, Poe,” Rose said

Leaving the crossfields they skipped into lightspeed to enter the atmosphere. They came lightning striking all around them.

“Look at the size of that fleet,” Poe said daunted.

The ships began firing at them then and they flew down dodging the blaster from the ion cannons.

“Damn it!” Rose screamed as she almost got hit.

“Welcome to Exegol,” Poe said

“Watch your starboard, Snap” Jess called through the comms.

“Whoa!” Snap said as his and Jess ships just missed each other.

“Get to their altitude” Poe ordered “They can't fire on us without hitting each other. Don't worry, help is coming.”

They headed down, dodging more blasts and searching for the navigation tower. Poe was hoping that Finn wasn't going to be too far behind them, just as he heard him come over the comms.

“Poe, we're here and we brought some friends,” Finn said.

Poe looked up seeing two First Order shuttles, one on either side of Finn's. He didn't even want to know what Finn had been up to, as long as it was good he was happy.

“Good thing too Finn, I've the navigation tower in my sight,” Rose said

“On our way,” Finn said.

Finn and the other shuttles made their way down. Poe followed along to give them cover.

“Incoming TIE's” Snap called as more fighters than Poe had seen came to meet them.

“I see 'em,” Poe said firing at the TIE's before they could go for Finn. “I got you, Finn.”

They were almost to Rose when she came over the comms again.

“The navigation tower has been deactivated,” she said confused.

“What?” Finn asked.

“Those ships need that signal. It's gotta be coming from somewhere” Snap said.

“They figured out what we're doing,” Poe said annoyed. “Call off the ground invasion”

He waited for Finn to say something, but he was met with only silence.

“Wait” he finally said “The nav signal's coming from that command ship. That's our drop zone.”

Poe was about to ask Finn how he knew, but Jannah beat him to it.

“How do you know?” she said.

“A feeling,” Finn said.

“You wanna launch a ground invasion on a Star Destroyer?” Rose asked.

“I don't want to, but we can't take out that ship's nav system from the air. Give us cover. We gotta keep that there till help arrives.” Finn explained

“We hope,” Kaydel called through.

“You heard the General. All Wings, cover those landers.” Poe said following the shuttle to the Star Destroyer.

***

Rey and Ben made their way inside the temple, lightning flashing around them. They found a platform that sent them down into the bowels of the temple and both of them took their sabers out.

Reaching the bottom they walked through the dark hallways. Sensing their way through, only being able to see when the lightning flashed.

They headed down a narrow hallway and at the end they found what Rey feared most of all, the throne of the Sith. Ben squeezed Rey's hand sensing her fear. She looked up at him giving him a weak smile.

But it faded quickly as they heard quick footsteps. The knights had arrived and had encircled them. The men all raised a hand then. Rey and Ben were forced onto their knees, their sabers flying out of their hands.

“If we had known you were going to make it so easy, we wouldn't have tried so hard to capture you beforehand,” Vicrul said chuckling.

They fought against the knights hold on them but they were frozen. Rey was only just able to speak.

“And why did you want us here so badly?” she said through gritted teeth

“Well, as you probably both know by now. Snoke had been after you both for a long time. He knew of your Dyad, a power like life itself. Enough power to resurrect his old master.” Vicrul said.

“Palpatine” Ben guessed still fighting against their hold.

“Very good, Ren. You were always very clever.” Vicrul said sarcastically. “Yes, Snoke was the Emperor's apprentice a long time ago. He failed his master and was cast aside. But he never gave up hope the one day he would find a way to revive his master. And then he found you pair and the perfect vessel for the Emperor's soul.”

He walked out of the circle of knights and came to stand right in front of Rey.

“No! No!” Ben screamed fighting harder than ever. “You even think about touching her and I'll kill you!”

Vicrul laughed rejoining the circle.

“As if you could stop us,” Cardo said laughing as well.

The Knights closed in around them, holding out their hands. They began to chant and Rey felt like her soul was being ripped from her. She screamed as a white mist cloud formed above them.

She and Ben fell back, she was slipping in and out of consciousness. She struggled to stay awake but seeing Ben crawling over to her she fought to reach for him. But just before their hands touched Ben was pulled away from her.

She pulled herself up and saw Ben flying across the floor as Vicrul threw him down to a pit and he disappeared.

She fell onto her back and everything went black. The last thing she heard was a menacing cackling reverberating in her ears.


	38. Ending the War

Chapter 38 – Ending the War

The shuttle came to a very unsteady landing as Finn and the others climbed aboard their Orbaks. The ramp opened and they galloped out.

“Not bad for one lesson” Finn called over to Jannah as he charged ahead.

“You had a good teacher,” She smirked.

He looked behind to see the other two shuttles opening up and the helmetless troopers poured out firing in front of them. As Finn turned to see red troopers coming out of another shuttle to meet them. Sith troopers Finn knew.

BB-8 was whizzing along with them beeping tiredly as he desperately tried to keep up with them.

“You're doing great, buddy,” he told the little droid “Towers up ahead”

“Those thrusters are hot. How are we doing?” Poe asked as they saw blues lights from the engines glowing up.

“We're gonna blow our way in and take out that nav tower,” Finn said riding through the chaos.

“All the hatches are blast-proof!” Jannah warned as they reached the hatch that would connect to the nav tower. They dismounted and ran with BB-8 to the hatch.

“All right, BB-8, you're up” Finn yelled and the droid rolled over to the hatch and got to work. While he and Jannah covered him, blasting away any red troopers in sight.

Finn saw Jannah grabbing the bow off her back and nocked in an arrow, then launching it at the trooper flying towards them. She hit them dead center and their jetpack spun out of control crashing them into the ship.

At that moment BB-8 managed to open the hatch and Finn ran over to lift the heavy door up. They took the explosives they had dropping them inside.

“This should do it,” she said setting the detonator and chucking it in as well. They shut the hatch and then ran like hell as the explosions raised the floor beneath them.

“There it goes,” Finn said as explosions went higher and higher, shutting the nav tower down.

“Nice one, Finn” Poe cheered “Nav signals down, but not for long”

Finn and the others began the retreat. They were halfway back to the shuttle. When Finn stopped realising his job wasn't done.

“Finn lets go” Jannah yelled

“No, no, wait, listen,” he said and they paused listening for a moment. “The crown cannons have stopped. They're resetting their systems”

“So?”

“I gotta go do something,” Finn said understanding that Jannah would want to head back to her team.

“I'm staying with you,” she said firmly which surprised Finn. As they ran through the crowds heading for one of the cannons. He was going to take control of the cannon while they were still resetting and use it to bring down the whole ship.

“Finn, where are you? The landers are leaving” Kaydel called “Finn!”

“Go without us,” he said reaching the cannon. “We're taking this entire ship down”

“What?” he heard Rose scream so loudly she might have been heard from her ship. “How?”

“We're going to hit the command deck”

“Finn, stop!” Rose pleaded.

“Kaydel, go!” he ordered.

In just a few moments the shuttles had taken off and got to work.

“I'll get the trigger,” Jannah said.

They were taking down that ship no matter what.

***

Rey was stirring as she heard the knights chanting around her.

“The ritual begins,” Vicrul said, “Emperor come forth and take the life force we offer you. Rise and take your place as the leader of the Final Order.”

The mist above Rey began to swirl above her, the cackling in her ears grew louder. She was struggling to find any strength left to fight. She needed help but Ben was gone and no one was going to come and rescue her.

The chanting grew quieter and she saw the Vicrul step out of the circle.

“Cardo, head down there and finish the traitor off if he isn't already dead,” Vicrul said.

She had to stop them, she had to get up and help Ben. She needed the help of the Jedi before her.

Lightning began to erupt from the sky then as the mist descended towards Rey.

“Be with me, be with me” Rey begged looking up beyond the lightning and fighting above her, out to the stars. “Be with me”

***

“Still no Falcon or backup,” Snap said as Poe and the others got back into formation for another run.

R2 beeped sounding as worried as Poe.

“I don't know, R2. Maybe nobody else is coming.” Poe said.

“What do we do, General?” Jess asked.

“We gotta hit them ourselves,” he said

“What can we do against these things?” Tyce asked.

“Just stay alive!” Poe ordered, desperate for reinforcement to arrive.

They flew down to the underbelly of the destroyers but were caught by a dozen or so TIEs. Vanik's ship was taken down and Jess was being pursued by three TIEs. Poe took one out and was almost hit by the debris himself.

He zoomed away as Rose went to help Jess and saw TIEs flying in Snap's direction.

“Snap, they're on your tail,” he warned.

“Yeah, I see 'em!” he said but it was too late.

“No, no, no, Snap, Snap!” Poe yelled. Snap screamed as his X-Wing ignited. “No!”

“Alpha Three is down,” Tyce called.

“They're on my tail! I can’t get...” A pilot said and then he screamed.

“They're everywhere,” Tyce shouted. “Delta's hit!”

Lightning shot up from the ground then sending the ship falling down.

“Losing Altitude!” Jess called.

“General, what's our next move?” Tyce asked desperately.

“Poe, what now?” Rose asked.

“My systems are failing. My friends... I'm sorry.” he said as his ship fell from the sky. R2 was screaming, short-circuiting. “I thought we had a shot. But there's just too many of them.”

The lightning stopped and Poe regained control of the ship as he heard a familiar voice over the comms.

“But there are more of us, Poe. There are more of us.” Lando said.

Poe swung his ship around and was met with an almighty sight. The Falcon was there with hundred upon hundred ships with it.

“Look at this,” Poe whispered hearing Lando laughing away. “Look at this.”

“Lando, you did it. You did it!” Finn was heard cheering.

Poe got straight back to it leading the ships into the fight.

“Hit those underbelly cannons. Everyone we knock out is a world saved.” He said

“Nice flying, Lando” he heard the unmistakable voice of Wedge Antilles. As he and Lando took out one of the destroyers.

“And that was my nice shooting,” Maz laughed.

“So long, sky trash!” a familiar voice said as another destroyer was taken down.

“Who's that flyer?” Poe asked.

“Take a guess, spice runner,” Zorii said as Babu was heard whooping.

“Ha! Zorii! You made it!” Poe said happily.

They were taking down the destroyers and TIEs easily; they outnumbered them greatly. They were ending the war there and then as the Lead Destroyer began to fall.

***

Ben had hit the edge of the pit as he was thrown down. He tried to slow his fall using the Force he was reaching the bottom just as managed to. But he still hit the ground hard and he heard a crunching in his ankle.

He collapsed to the ground, lying on his back unable to move no strength left to him. He didn't know how long he was down there for but he was brought back to reality when he heard Rey's voice coming from beside him.

“Be with me” she said through their connection.

“Be with me” he said following her suit.

_“These are your final steps, Rey. Rise and take them.”_

That was the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi, he knew.

_“Ben”_

Anakin Skywalker, his grandfather, finally spoke to him.

_“Rey”_

_“Ben”_

_“Rey”_

They were unfamiliar voices to him. But they were giving him strength.

_“Bring back the balance, Ben, as I did,” Anakin said._

_“In the night find the light, Rey.”_

_“You're not alone, Ben”_

_“Alone never have you been”_

_“Every Jedi who ever lived lives in you.”_

_“The Force surrounds you, Ben.”_

_“Let it guide you”_

_“As it guided us”_

_“Feel the Force flowing through you, Rey”_

_“Let it lift you.”_

_“Rise, Ben”_

_“We stand behind you, Rey”_

_“Ben”_

_“Rise in the Force”_

Rey was pulling herself up and Ben felt enough strength to do the same.

_“In the heart of a Jedi lies their strength.”_

_“Rise”_

_“Rise”_

_“Rey, the Force will be with you.”_

Ben gasped Luke's voice and then a voice that shook him to his core.

_“Always, Ben”_

“Mom” he whispered.

Rey and Ben were on their feet and she had seen him finally. He was about to start climbing back up to the top. When he heard someone land behind him, Cardo had come to face him.

“Time to die, Ren,” Cardo said raising his weapon.

Ben was still looking at Rey, she nodded to him imperceptibly. And she lifted her hand with the lightsaber in it, he mirrored her taking the saber and reliving it in his hand.

“My name is Ben,” he said shrugging as Cardo took a step back.

He moved fluidly swiping the saber at Cardo slashing at his stomach. Then he spun and stabbed him through the chest.

He looked around but Rey was gone, he had to get up to her. Trying to ignore the pain in his back and ankle, pushing it away and starting his climb to the top.

He could hear blaster fire above and he moved faster, worried for Rey. He grabbed the top scrabbling up, seeing Rey in the center of the five of them. She was only just holding the off, blocking and pushing the blaster fire away.

Ben ran forward hopping a little from his unsteady ankle. He swiped at Ushar on the back, making him fall to the ground. He joins Rey in the middle of the circle as the knights closed in around them.

“You won't win this” Vicrul claimed, “The Sith will rise!”

“No,” Rey said, “ The Jedi will.”

She jumped then, backflipping out of the circle and landing behind Ap'lek slashing at him before he could turn and sending him two the ground in half.

Ben pulled Kuruk forward stabbing him in the gut and then slashing at his head. Ushar charged at him then and Ben spun taking a breath and then grabbing him by the shoulder lifted himself into the air and stabbed him through the chest.

Rey was battling Trudgen ducking and dodging every blow and blast he sent her way. She used the Force trying to push him over, he was able to stay on his feet but he was unsteady enough for her to leap at him and slice from neck to groin.

Vicrul was the only one left and both Rey and Ben made for him. He held his weapon up blocking Rey as Ben joined Rey so their sabers were crossing. It was too much for him and Vicrul was pushed back until slashed taking his head clean off.

It was over, they had won.

Ben was breathing hard all his pain returning as he heard Rey drop her saber and then fall to the ground.

Ben shot down to the ground discarding his lightsaber and clumsily pulling Rey into his lap.  
She was fading fast, her life force ebbing away, she'd given so much that day. Healing him, their dyad being ripped out of them, all the fights.

But he knew he couldn't live in a galaxy without her. He looked around hoping for help but none would arrive. Only he could save her the galaxy would be a better place with her in it, he didn't matter.

He pulled her to his chest never wanting to let her go, needing to remember the way she felt. Then he rested her in his arm and placed his hand on her stomach. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply searching for the light inside himself, looking to unlock every particle he could find and give it to her.

His fingertips tingled and he began to feel weak, entirely drained. That's when he felt Rey take his hand. He opened his eyes seeing her come back, the light inside her eyes. She sat up, she looked so happy to see him.

He smiled and so did she.

“Ben” she whispered “We won”

They were both shakily from nerves and excitement, Rey lent forward but Ben felt a deep darkness consume him and he fell back. The last he remembered was Rey holding his hand so tightly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill, at least not until I've posted the last two chapters :)
> 
> Thanks to anyone still reading this xx


	39. The Past Dies

Chapter 39 – The Past Dies

Rey had fallen onto Ben's chest still gripping onto his hand. She was begging every force in the universe to help her as she felt Ben's life slipping away.

“You can't take him away. He just came back. He came back for me.” she said her voice muffled by Ben's sweater. She was still feeling incredibly weak, she knew Ben would only try to revive her again if she tried to give up her life to him.

She didn't want to leave without him though. She thought it would be like leaving behind a piece of her soul. So she lay on his chest dampening his sweater with her tears.

Soon after though she noticed a blue glow above her. She looked up and gasped seeing an unfamiliar man above her.

The man wore brown Jedi robes and had long mousy hair. He was looking at her with a warm smile and was illuminated by the blue light of the Force.

“Rey,” he said his voice sounded so familiar, one of the voices that spoke to her and Ben. “Thank you for helping my grandson, in the way I never could have”

“You're Anakin Skywalker” She realised wiping away her tears.

“Smart girl” he smiled. “I was such a fool before and after my death. Ben needed me to guide him on the path in his youth. And I was doing what I always do in my stupidity. Looking for Padmé.”

“Padmé, your wife,” She said remembering what Ben had told her.

“Right again Rey,” he said, “I thought she would be here waiting for me. I spent years searching for her, but she's not here. And in doing so I neglected a grandson who really needed me as he struggled between the light and dark. By the time I tried to reach out to him, it was too late. So twisted by Snoke he could only hear Vader. But now I get to make amends, I can save him”

“But if you do that you won't have enough life left, you'll fade from the Force”

“I know, it's my gift to the both of you, a long happy life together. There was a prophecy long ago that I would be the one to bring balance to the Force. I have been trying to do that for so long and failing every time. Only now do I see what I need to do. Equal parts light and dark a true balance.” he said gesturing to Rey and then Ben. “You're the balance and you'll be able to keep it in life and beyond together.”

“You'd really do that for us, give up your chance of ever seeing Padmé again,” Rey asked.

“Well with any luck, I will find what truly waits beyond this universe. Hopefully, I will see Padmé again in the afterlife. If not I can finally rest, knowing I finally helped my grandson”

And with that, he placed a hand on either side of Ben's head and closed his eyes to focus.

“Thank you, Anakin” Rey said

“Tell Ben I'm sorry Rey, tell him I'll always be with him.” Anakin pleaded and then he bowed his head and faded away.

Rey looked back down at Ben waiting and watching for any sign of life, until.

“Ow...” Ben moaned slowly opening his eyes. Rey's breath came out in a laugh as lifted him into a sitting position.

“Ben” she cried.

“What happened?” he asked and then his eyes went wide. “Rey, you didn't?”

She shook her head calming him.

“No, no, it wasn't me. It was your grandfather.”

“My...” he said. Rey nodded and then whispered Anakin's message in his ear. When she looked at him again there were tears in his eyes. She wiped them away, then brushed her hand into his hair.

“I think my ankle's broken” he groaned

“When we get back to the base Dr Kalonia can take a look at it”

“Rey...” he stumbled “You don't have to. I don't want to cause you problems. You don't owe me anything.”

“Ben, I didn't just let you join me on this mission. I wanted you by my side, I will always want you.” Rey said and then she pulled him forward not really sure how or what to do, but she kissed him. He was shocked for a moment but then he relaxed grazing her lips seemingly as inexperienced as she was.

What neither of them saw was the mist above them was swirling again, then the white mist engulfed them. Rey felt the tension leave Ben's body as all his injuries were healed just as Rey felt all her weakness and pain fade away.

Rey pulled away then, looking at Ben cautiously, all her fear disappeared though as Ben gave her the most brilliant smile she'd ever seen. They laughed, foreheads pressed together both of them finally and truly happy.

“Let's go home,” Rey said and then they got to their feet and ran through the temple. They had just reached the exit when they felt the ground shake, they looked back and saw the temple being crushed by a falling Star Destroyer.

They bolted for their ship, hopping inside and getting out of there before they could get crushed.

***

Poe flew through the mess of falling destroyers. When Jess called over the comms.

“Poe, the command ship!”

Poe directed his attention to the ship and saw the obvious sight of a ginger-haired man in the command deck. He patched his comms through to the ship. And they accepted the transmission.

“General Hux, goodbye,” Poe said as he watched the ship explode into flames. “Their fleet is stuck here! They're toast! Come on!”

The destroyers around them were all falling out of the sky, with only a few left to get rid of.

“Finn are you seeing this?” he asked smiling.

“Finn didn't board the lander” Rose informed him.

“They're still on that command ship?” Poe asked his smile falling. He pulled his ship around heading back to the destroyer as fast as he could. In the distance, he could see Finn and Jannah just barely hanging on to the ship. “I see them. I'm going to get them.”

“General, you won't make it,” Tyce said

“Trust me, I'm fast!” he said hoping he was fast enough.

“Not as fast as this ship,” Lando said as the Falcon swooped above his X-Wing. “Hold on Chewie”

Poe watched as the pair jumped onto the Falcon and got inside the ship.

Light was appearing in the sky above as they were leaving the planet and heading back to the base.

“People are rising up all over the galaxy. Poe, we did it” Finn said.

“We did it,” Poe sighed.

***

Finn pushed his way through all of the celebrating people back at the base, searching through the crowds. He saw Chewie lifting Rose and spinning her around. Tyce and D'acy being reunited. Kaydel and Beaumont clapping him on the back.

He continued searching until he found him, Poe's arm was in a sling but he didn't look too worse for wear. The moment he caught Poe's eye they sped over to each other, embracing then Finn gave Poe a chaste kiss.

That was when Finn noticed Lando smiling at him over Poe's shoulder. Poe turned to see what Finn was looking at, then he pushed him forward, sending him to talk to Lando.

They went to go lean against some crates, just watching the celebrations for a moment. Zorii had come up behind Poe and scared the living daylights out of him. Finn smirked watching Poe with his old friend.

“So you said you found out some interesting information?” Lando asked.

“I was taken for Socorro,” he said.

“My homeworld,” Lando said unsurprised.

“You're my dad,” Finn stated.

“I believe so. I think I knew from the moment you chided me on Canto Bight. Same bluntness as your mother.” Lando laughed.

“I'd like to know more about her. And you of course.”

“Son, nothing would make me happier” Lando smiled.

“There's one thing I would like to know now though,” Finn asked.

“Anything”

“What did you name me? I was only given a number in the order” He said sadly.

“We named you Balthazar, mostly though we just called you Zar,” Lando said fondly.

“Finn Zar Calrissian. I like it.” Finn said. Just as Poe came running over in need of rescue.

“How long do you think Zorii's gonna be mad at for?” Poe asked

“Probably forever” Finn joked.

The smiles died on their faces though as they saw a TIE Fighter coming into land.

***

  
Ben was terrified as they came into the atmosphere as the Resistance base. Rey must have sensed his fear as she had turned around in her seat and rubbing his arm soothingly.

“We're gonna be okay Ben,” Rey said.

But Ben wasn't that sure as they landed and found themselves surrounded by people with raised blasters.

“Uh... Rey” he said.

“Oh yeah, it was probably a bad idea to bring this ship to the base,” she said awkwardly.

“Maybe...”

He was about to get out of the ship when Rey stopped him.

“Wait, there's something I need to tell you before we got out there.” She said and Ben nodded waiting. “I was so afraid to tell you before, but for a long time now I've... I... I love you, Ben.”

Ben smiled his cheeks hurting, he couldn't remember the last time he'd smiled so much.

“You know... I feel... That I...” he stumbled, struggling with his words.

“Yeah, I know” Rey laughed. Kissing him once more, longer and more passionately than she knew she could.

“I think we should probably get going.” Ben gasped “You know before they blow up the ship.”

Rey opened the top hatch going out first, Ben could hear cheers as she stood atop the ship. When he stepped out however everything went silent.

Rey took his hand once they were on the ground. She pulled him around to the crowd as a few people pushed their way through. Rey put herself between Ben and the crowd.

“Finn, Poe, I want you to listen first please,” Rey asked

However Poe didn't listen to her, he stepped closer squaring up to Ben.

“You tortured me,” He said and Ben could only nod his head in shame. Regret coursed through him. And Rey squeezed his hand. “But you know what the last thing Leia said to me was?”

“No”

“She said that she gave birth to one son. But she ended up with two. That had things worked out differently, that we should have been like that. And that if you ever return that for her sakes I should give you a chance”

“And,” Ben said

“I don't want to. But for Leia and for Rey. I'll try” Poe said holding out his hand.

“Thank you,” he said shaking Poe's hand.

Finn approached then next looking only at Rey.

“I thought you were dead, I felt you died.” he cried and Rey nodded. “I take it that you're the reason she's alive?”

“I wouldn't have had it any other way,” Ben said his eyes trained on Rey.

“Welcome to the Resistance, Traitor,” Finn smirked holding his hand out.

“Glad to be here, Traitor,” Ben said shaking Finn's hand. Rey stepped on Ben's foot as he pushed his luck and Poe coughed out a laugh.

Things seemed to be working out better than he expected. That was until a roar came for the back of the crowd.

Chewie was barrelling through the crowds knocking everyone in his path to the ground. Poe and Finn grabbed him barely holding him back as he raged at Ben. The tears began to flow as Chewie's words stung him to the core.

“Chewie, please calm down. It's not what you think.” Rey screamed.

Just then a girl rushed up to Chewie in an effort to calm him.

“Careful Rose” Poe shouted, “I've known him to take someone's arm off when he gets like this.”

“I'd deserve it” Ben whispered as Rose looked at him curiously before going to Chewie.

“Chewie, I need you to listen to me,” Rose said gently but the Wookie still struggled. “Kylo Ren killed Han. But Kylo Ren is dead. Leia made sure of it. She died for it.”

Chewie stilled and then looked at Ben in the eyes. He thought back to his childhood, the piggyback rides and flying lessons. His Uncle Chewie.

Poe and Finn released Chewie and he walked forward. Ben did as well stepping away from Rey.

Chewie raised his paw and Ben flinched but the Wookie only patted Ben's head messing his hair further. Then the pair of them hugged crying on each other, grieving for Ben's parents and Chewie's best friends.

When they broke apart, Rose stepped forward with something in her hand.

“I brought Leia back here after she died. But her body just disappeared, it was gone when we got back.”

“Don't worry, she's where she needed to be,” Ben explained vaguely.

“There's something else as well,” Rose said handing him his father's medal. “She went back for it, said it was important to you”

“It was” he whispered and then he turned to Chewie “Chewie I want you to have it. Dad always said you deserve one more than him”

Chewie took it, in awe at Ben like he was finally seeing the son of his best friend.

Rey came up behind Ben then, hugging his arm and sighing.

“R2 what are you yelling about?” C3-PO called as he and R2 came over. “R2 has fried a chip, really this time.”

3-PO then turned to look at Ben, then back at R2, then back at Ben and then back at R2.  
He jumped then realising who Ben was.

“Oh my, Master Ben. How have you grown so fast? You only went to you Master Luke's temple six months ago. Oh, I'm so terribly confused R2” 3-PO babbled.

“Rey... Help” Ben whispered.

“I think R2's memory banks didn't restore 3-PO's memory properly.

“What do you mean I've forgotten!” 3-PO screamed at R2.

And with that everyone broke into laughter. The celebrations continued into the night all of them enjoying the breath of relief. Before the real work began.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas Everyone, thanks for reading and I'll see you on New Years Eve with the Epilogue.


	40. A New Beginning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow its the end,
> 
> Thanks one last time to my best friends in the world, Will and Nicole for all their help. 
> 
> And thank you for every comment, kudos, bookmark and subscription. It has meant the world to me in more ways than you could ever know. 
> 
> This Epilogue is for all of you enjoy, it has been an honor to write this trilogy as I imagined it.
> 
> Happy New Year Everyone!!

Chapter 40 - A New Beginning

Epilogue

The Falcon swooped over the Tatooine desert, they passed over a Jawas Sandcrawler as they headed for the old moisture farms.

The ship landed a distance from the old Lars estate. The ramp came down and R2-D2 came rolling out, followed by Rey and Ben. R2-D2 beeped at the old house, leading the way.

“Yes we're coming R2” Ben sighed as he and Rey walked hand in hand. They walked to the edge of the house where R2 had stopped. Most of the lower parts of the house had been filled in with sand over the years.

“You sure R2?” Rey asked as the droid beeped.

Rey grabbed a piece of metal from the ground and then slid down the slope of sand. Reaching the bottom she walked inside the old house exploring its dark rooms.

Not long into her search, she felt a humming coming from inside the walls. Inside one of the bedrooms, her hand scraped along one of the walls until she felt a groove on one of them. She pushed against the wall and a brick turned.

“Rey!” Ben shouted from somewhere above.

“I'm fine Ben! I think I've found it!” she called back up to him as she stuck her hand inside the wall and found what they had been looking for. Inside of a wrapping was a saber. “Luke's saber”

She walked back the way she came until she heard a noise behind her. And Ben came round a corner making her jump.

“Don't worry, only me” he smiled and then he noticed the saber. “You found it. Only Luke would put it in the last place anyone would want to go.”

“How'd you get down here?” she chuckled.

“I cleared the sand from the front entrance so you'd be able to get back up,” he explained and they headed back up. R2 was already returning to the ship, C3-PO waiting by the ramp for them.

Ben was ready to return to the ship but Rey held back, walking over to an outcrop of rocks and watching as the twin suns set in a bright red glow. She felt an arm hug around her waist as she looked up at Ben beaming as they watched and suns disappeared from the sky.

***

Finn and Poe were waiting side by side as the Falcon came to land and Rey and Ben came to meet them.

Ben was much changed from the last time they had seen him. No longer a see of black but the spitting image of his father, wearing a thin white top and brown vest top, saber on one side of his belt and a blaster on the other.

After the war had ended and the politics had begun, they had all decided on the best course of action. Since not many of the galaxy knew who Kylo Ren truly was it was easy for Poe and Kaydel to explain to the new senate that he had died along with Hux and most of the other First Order command.

While in actuality Rey and Ben had gone to Naboo, Leia had inherited some property from her mother's family years ago and she had left it to Ben in her will.

The four of them walked through the lake country of Naboo heading for the house Rey and Ben lived in. The gardens were extensive, they weaved their way through as Rey, Finn and Poe talked animatedly, catching up on their time apart. Ben stayed quiet, seemingly just happy to be at Rey's side while the others talked.

Finn and Poe's adventures were helped greatly by Ben in the long run and they were civil to each other, all things considered. Finn had made it his mission to help those stormtroopers who were conditioned.

He and Poe lived on Coruscant and while Poe spent most days with Kaydel trying to restore the republic to what it once was, Finn joined by Rose and Jannah set up a rehabilitation center helping all they could to recover from the harm the First Order had caused them.

At the edge of the gardens, the group stopped. A memorial garden in front of them, Ben stepped forward placing Han's lucky dice on the top of the stone in the center.

Rey stepped forward then taking the wrapping with Luke's saber inside and setting it on the ground and then placing Leia's saber next to it before wrapping it again. She knelt there for a moment and then the sabers sank into the earth.

Rey returned to Ben's side and then Poe moved forward.

“Goodbye Leia” He whispered.

***

In the early morning when Ben's nightmares kept him up he and Rey would walk out into the lake country, usually settling down in the large fields by the waterfalls. Rey sat in his lap as he braided her hair for the day ahead.

In the days after Rey and Ben's arrival on Naboo, Ben noticed Rey's unease. When he worked up the courage to ask her what was wrong, he understood he had done nothing wrong. Rey simply hated the feeling of a large empty house.

So in the next few months, Rey set about turning their house into a place she could truly be happy. She and Ben agree that there were many children in the galaxy that needed their help, that no child should have to grow up as they did.

Helped by Finn and Poe, they found many children in need of their help. Finn had brought to their attention some slave children on Canto Bight, they had rescued them all and cared for them back on Naboo.

They were determined to give a home to any child that was homeless, enslaved or abused. And they made the decision that if any of the children were Force-sensitive, they would train them if they wished to be trained.

The morning after the memorial, Rey was laying in Ben's arms. The sounds of the waterfall calming Ben after more nightmares.

“They'll fade with time, I promise,” she said soothingly

“I'll manage,” he said kissing the top of her head “As long as you're always there when I wake up”

“Always”

He sat up a bit straighter then.

“Rey, there's something I have been wanting to ask you for some time now,” he said shakily.

“Hmm?” she said relaxed.

“I know you were desperate to find out more about your family and I'm sorry I couldn’t give that to you”

She turned to look at him.

“Ben, we've been through this, I'm not angry we didn't find more. It's hard to find anything on people who intended to disappear.”

“Yeah, it's just Finn found his family name and I expect in a few months he'll take Dameron as well. If Poe has anything to say about it,” he said

“What are you asking then Ben?” Rey said confused.

“Take my name? Become Rey Solo.”

Her breath hitched and then took a hold of his face pressing my lips to his only coming up for air when they were both gasping.

“I will,” she said holding him as close as she could.

They watched as the sun rose and a cacophony of noise came from the house and the children poured forth making their way over to Rey and Ben who had gotten up and were walking to them hand in hand.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to anyone who has read this whole thing, I'm gonna take a few weeks off and then hope to be back with a new fic soon. xxx


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